My Best Friend
by MoonGoddess09
Summary: Nevmione through the years from Neville's POV. As always, I have taken great liberties with the plot.
1. Introduction

I never set out to fall in love with Hermione Granger. It just kind of happened. I met her on the first day of our first year on the Hogwarts Express when she agreed to help me look for Trevor, my toad that I had lost. I had been so shy and timid, but Hermione had marched confidently into all the different compartments and asked if anyone had seen him. I had been so happy when we ended up in the same house at the Sorting.

Her skills in all of our classes had always impressed me as well. She was good at everything, but also willing to help other people out when they were struggling. I never would have gotten through half of my classes, especially Potions, without her. Professor Snape terrified me, but Hermione always stood up to him and anyone else who bullied me. Nothing seemed to scare her, not even when Malfoy and his cronies mercilessly teased her for being Muggleborn, a Mudblood they called her, or when people teased her for being a bossy know-it-all.

During our second year, I had been so scared when the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets petrified her. I trusted Professor Sprout and her mandrakes to find a cure-Herbology had always been favorite and best subject-but the thought of not having her in my life made me sick. Even though she, Ron, and Harry were close and usually didn't have room for anyone else, they let me in sometimes, something I would always be grateful for. I had some friends, nobody super close, but I got by. Hermione was probably the closest, though, and when I saw her walk through the doors of the Great Hall unpetrified...I didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.

By our fourth year, I had a full blown crush on her. Unfortunately for me, she had a full blown crush on Ron. He liked her too, but he wouldn't admit it. They bickered constantly, especially when Hermione ended up going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, one of the other Triwizard Tournament champions, instead of with him. I had asked her too, but at that point she had already said yes to Krum. She was genuinely apologetic too, and even saved me a dance. I still treasure that moment till this day. I was a horrible dancer, stepping all over my date, Ginny's, feet, but Hermione had guided me in such a way that I wasn't half bad.


	2. Fifth Year

And so our fifth year begins, not surprisingly with a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and tensions between friends over who believes that You-Know-Who came back and killed Cedric Diggory and who believes it's completely made up. Gran and I believe Harry and Dumbledore; _The Daily Prophet_ is going downhill, not Dumbledore.

The first day is bad; nobody besides Hermione can make the Draught of Peace in Potions, even though she tries her hardest to help me. Then the awful Umbridge woman who's teaching DADA tells us we aren't going to need our wands for class.

"I have a question about your course aims, Professor," Hermione speaks up. "There's nothing that talks about us using defensive spells."

Umbridge laughs haughtily. "_Using_ defensive spells? Why I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to _use_ a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

That sets off a shouting match with Umbridge on one side and Ron, Hermione, Harry, Dean, and Parvati on the other. Umbridge doesn't budge when Parvati points out that we have to perform defensive spells on the O.W.L. exam, simply says we can use defensive spells just by reading the theory of them.

I glance over at Harry, who looks pissed. "And what good's theory in the real world?"

"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world," she replies softly.

"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting out there?"

"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."

"Oh yeah?"

Umbridge takes on a patronizing tone. "Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?"

Harry takes on the same tone and I brace myself, knowing what's coming. "Hmm, let's think...maybe _Lord Voldemort_?"

It doesn't help; I still start shaking. Luckily I'm not the only one to react. I can't even read the expression on Umbridge's face. She just stands up and tells us that everything we've been told about You-Know-Who's return is a lie and that the Ministry of Magic "guarantees our safety." I've never _heard_ a bigger lie.

Umbridge sits down, but Harry isn't done. His voice is shaking when he says, "So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?"

There's a collective intake of breath from the class and that statement wipes the fake smile off Umbridge's face. "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she says coldly.

Harry's still shaking; I can see it from two seats over. "It was murder. Voldemort killed him and you know it."

We wait, sure Umbridge is going to scream at him. But all she does is write a note and send him to Professor McGonagall. Then she tells us to read our books. Hermione, who's sitting next to me, is shaking too, her face red. I touch her hand and she jumps slightly, looking at me. She's pissed too; I can tell by the look in her eyes.

This is going to be a long term.

* * *

Just when we think things can't get worse, Umbridge is named High Inquisitor by the Ministry of Magic. That starts two things: Educational Decrees telling us what we can and can't do, and teachers getting their lessons and teaching styles examined. Everyone being examined except her, of course.

Hermione speaks out in her class, telling her exactly what she thinks of the dung that is our DADA textbook. Harry continues to speak out against _The Daily Prophet's_ lies. Professor McGonagall is completely sarcastic and dismissive towards Umbridge when she inspects our Transfiguration class. I wish I had as much courage as they do.

Then Hermione and Harry take their courage to the next level: they gather about thirty of us at Hog's Head Pub to talk about Harry teaching everyone Defense Against the Dark Arts since we aren't learning anything from Umbridge. After much discussion and several people vouching for Harry's accomplishments, we all sign our names on the organization roster. Finally, maybe we can do something about Umbridge.

"This was all your idea?" I ask Hermione as we walk out together. Harry's busy flirting with Cho and Ron is distracted by Fred and George mocking him.

She nods. "I can't stand by and let this madness go on any longer. We need to be able to fight because I have a bad feeling we're going to end up in a second wizarding war."

"Me too. I hope not, though."

"What are you lot looking all serious about?" Ron asks, catching up.

"Nothing," Hermione replies. "Do you mind if we stop at Scribbulus Writing Instruments? I need some more parchment."

"Did you waste all of yours writing to Vicky?" Ron asks nastily before I can reply. He had gotten huffy when Hermione had said "nothing," so I assume this is his revenge.

She rolls her eyes. "We're just friends, Ronald. I've told you that a thousand times."

But his face doesn't change as he runs to catch up with Harry and Cho, successfully ending their conversation. Harry's not going to be happy.

"He's such a prat sometimes," Hermione says, opening the door to the shop.

I agree. "He's jealous."

Her cheeks turn faintly pink. "You think so?"

I sigh inwardly. Hermione and Krum at the Yule Ball I could handle. Her feelings for Ron...not as much. Especially because I know she could do so much better. Bloody hell, even _Fred_ would be better for her than Ron! But I put a smile on my face. "Who wouldn't be?"

She looks pleased. "Thanks, Neville."

I watch her brow furrow as she decides how much parchment to get, a look of concentration I'm extremely familiar with. It makes me smile every time.

* * *

Our meetings begin the following week in the room of requirement, starting with a vote on a name: Dumbledore's Army (DA). Harry chooses to begin with the Expelliarmus Charm, which this git Zacharias Smith thinks is below him. He shuts up quick, though, when Harry tells him that spell saved his life.

As usual, I'm not great at it. Luckily, I get paired up with Hermione, who always helps rather than mocks me. I'm really excited when I actually disarm her once. She smiles. "Nice one, Neville."

She presents all of us with fake Galleons at the end of the meeting. "I put a Protean Charm on them so that when Harry changes the date and time on his coin, the rest of yours will change as well. They'll also get warm, so you know we have a meeting."

Everyone just stares at her, openmouthed. She flushes red. "What? I thought it was a good idea."

"It is," a guy from Ravenclaw whose name I don't remember says hastily. "But it's also N.E.W.T. level magic. I'm impressed."

Her face turns even redder. "Thank you."

We have DA meetings once a week, though it's sometimes hard to work around everyone's Quidditch practices and the many detentions Harry is forced to serve under Umbridge. We keep moving onto harder and harder magic, but I'm improving steadily. I credit my success to Harry, who's an amazing teacher, and Hermione, who's a great and patient partner.

"I'm really proud of you," she tells me before we part for the winter holidays.

I carry her praise with me as I head home to Gran. I hate the Christmas holiday. Having to go to St. Mungo's to visit my parents is awful, especially with all the overly sympathetic Healers.

We're about to leave when I see Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny walking through the beds. I guess they had been visiting Mr. Weasley, who had been attacked by a snake. He's okay, though. I look away, but Ron sees me. "Neville!" he calls, clearly ignoring Harry and Hermione's attempts to stop him. "What are you doing here? Wait, is that your dad at the end?"

That's when Gran swoops in. "Neville, you didn't tell your friends about your parents? But you should be proud!" She turns to the others. "His parents were tortured to insanity by Death Eaters during the First Wizarding War because they thought his parents knew the location of You-Know-Who."

I hear Ginny gasp, but I have my eyes fixed steadily on the floor. I wish it would open up and swallow me whole. I would give anything to have a Time Turner right now. I could have made Gran leave about five minutes sooner and avoided this situation all together.

I listen to Gran introduce herself to them and she sounds especially pleased to meet Hermione. I can't even look at her. If she's giving me that sympathetic look of hers, I'll probably start crying. Usually I appreciate that look, but not today.

Gran continues to bug me about why I hadn't told my friends about my parents on the way home, but eventually relents when she realizes I'm not talking. So she changes course. "Hermione Granger is a pretty girl."

I nod wordlessly.

She tries again once we get inside the house. "She seems to really care about you."

"How do you mean?" The words are out before I can stop them.

Before she can answer, a snowy white owl taps against our window. I recognize Harry's owl, Hedwig, and take the parchment attached to it. When I unroll it, I recognize Hermione's handwriting.

_Dear Neville, _

_ I apologize for Ron's extreme lack of tact at St. Mungo's earlier today. Harry and I tried to silence him because we knew about your parents (I believe Professor Dumbledore told Harry and I found out accidentally through research two years ago) and that you probably did not want that information to spread. I have made Ron and Ginny promise they won't repeat what they know, but I wanted to say again that I'm very sorry. I hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday. I'll see you soon. _

_Love, Hermione _

Gran, who has been reading over my shoulder, taps the parchment. "That's how."

I write a quick reply to Hermione and send it off with Hedwig. "She's a good friend."

I wish that wasn't all she was.

* * *

I'm happy when holidays end and I can get back to Hogwarts. Umbridge is putting up new Educational Decrees right and left, Fred and George have taken to causing chaos as a way to get back at her, there's a mass breakout from Azkaban, and I triple my efforts in DA meetings. I shock and impress everyone with how quickly I learn new spells; only Hermione masters them faster than I do.

Then, as Harry starts teaching us how to cast Patronuses, which I can't do, Umbridge discovers the DA because one of our members snitched. The spell Hermione cast on the roster works, though, and the snitch ends up with "SNEAK" written in huge, pimple-like boils on her forehead. Surprisingly, Professor Dumbledore takes the fall for us, claiming that _he_ had gathered the army. So Umbridge takes over as headmistress.

That's the last straw. We all know things are going to get worse before they get better, so we fight back. Fred and George are at the forefront, causing no end to mischief. Even Hermione doesn't scold them for it, especially when Umbridge tries to get Hagrid sacked. She's hates that woman as much as the rest of us do. The worst of the pranks come during O.W.L. preparation and Fred and George fly off on their broomsticks. It's a beautiful sight. We're going to make that woman leave if it's the last thing we do.

* * *

With Fred and George gone, the resistance goes a bit underground. Umbridge recruits students, mostly Slytherins, to help do her dirty work for her. She calls them the Inquisitorial Squad. They're led by Malfoy and he takes every opportunity to bother the Gryffindors. Hermione gets the bulk of his abuse because she's the only one of us who won't fight back; she's too distracted by her studies anyway. But I swear, if I hear the word _Mudblood_ one more time I'm going to punch Malfoy in his mouth.

Then Harry has a nightmare that You-Know-Who has his godfather, Sirius, so Hermione, Ron, Luna, Ginny, and I set up a diversion so he can contact him in Umbridge's office. Unfortunately, the Inquisitorial Squad finds us and we all end up in her office. She demands to know who Harry was trying to contact, but he won't tell her. So she threatens him with the Cruciatus Curse.

"No!" Hermione shouts. "Harry, we'll have to tell her!"

"No way!" Harry yells back.

"We'll have to Harry; she'll force if out of you anyway...what's the point?" And she breaks down crying.

I stare at her, awed, then realize she's not actually crying. Hermione's sobbing into her hands, but I don't see any tears. What's she up to?

That's when Hermione tells Umbridge we were trying to contact Professor Dumbledore because the weapon to overthrow the Ministry is finished. And Umbridge _believes_ her. Blimey, Hermione's a convincing liar.

When Umbridge leaves with Hermione and Harry to see the "weapon," the rest of us take on the Inquisitorial Squad. Spells fly so fast that it eventually becomes a blur. But Ginny, Luna, Ron, and I escape unharmed and run to find Harry and Hermione.

"There they are!" Luna yells, pointing toward the Forbidden Forest.

They're walking towards us, covered in blood. My heart drops as we rush over to them. But they quickly assure is it isn't their blood. We need to get to the Ministry as soon as possible, though, so we fly on threstrals that had been attracted by the smell of blood. It had taken some convincing to get Harry to let Ginny, Luna, and I go, but he had relented in the end.

We head straight to the Department of Mysteries when we get to the Ministry and find ourselves in a dark room illuminated by candles with blue flames. It's eerie and I'm feeling really unsettled. I look at the others and see a mix of nervousness, curiosity, and determination. We find a room filled with brains first, which is beyond creepy, then wander into one with a huge stone pit in the center. There's a stone archway on a stone dais in the center that has a black veil fluttering. We get closer and I'm mesmerized by the sound of voices from beyond the veil. I faintly hear Hermione calling our names, but don't snap out of it until she grabs my arm and pulls me away.

Door after door, but not the one we need. Out of frustration, Harry shoves the next door open. We follow him inside, coming face to face with shelves upon shelves of glass orbs.

"This is it!" Harry says, running down the aisles looking for the one related to him.

Seconds after we find it, Death Eaters appear. When they remove their masks, the faces underneath don't surprise me. Lucius Malfoy demands the orb, but Harry won't give it to him. They go back and forth while Hermione discretely signals us to destroy all the shelves so we can get away. While the Death Eaters are stunned, we run.

They follow us, casting spells right and left. Somehow Harry, Hermione, and I get separated from the others. But we push on, then a flash of light hits Hermione right in the middle of the back. She falls hard and Harry elbows me in the nose, breaking it, as we scramble to help her.

"I'm sorry!" he says.

But I tell him to go; I'll take care of Hermione. My nose is gushing blood, but I don't care. Hermione's unconscious, her pulse is really faint, and I'm not going to let her die. I refuse to let her die.

The Death Eaters, Ginny, Ron, and Luna catch up to us and Harry lures the Death Eaters away with the prophecy. Our group is in bad shape. Ginny's ankle is broken, my nose is broken, Hermione is still unconscious, and Ron...I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with him actually. But I'm not letting Harry fight alone, so I tell Luna to watch everyone and run after him.

The Death Eaters are surrounding Harry when I arrive, taunting him about being alone. But he isn't. I try to Stupefy the Death Eaters, but one of them grabs me and won't let go. I fight so hard against him that he shouts for someone to Stun me.

"No, no, no," Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the Death Eaters who tortured my parents, says. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents. Unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy..."

She's coming closer and I writhe more, screaming. He can't give her the prophecy...

"_Crucio!"_

Pain wracks my body. I can't see; I can't breathe. It hurts so bad. The Death Eater drops me to the ground and all I can do is scream. The pain...I'm going to die...

"That was just a taster!" Bellatrix screams, making the pain stop. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy or watch your friend die the hard way!"

Before either of us can move, the doors slam open and Lupin, Moody, and three people I don't recognize come running in. Spells fly and I'm vaguely aware of Harry screaming as one of the people I don't recognize gets hit with a killing spell, Professor Dumbledore appearing out of nowhere, and Lupin guiding Luna, Ginny, Ron, and me out while carrying Hermione. She's still unconscious and Lupin's face is pale.

Somehow we make it to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey quickly fixes up Ginny and me. Luna doesn't have a scratch on her, but she gives Ron a potion to drink to help with his injuries. When she turns to Hermione, her face is grave. She asks a few questions, then draws the curtain around the bed.

I try frantically to look around the curtain as I wipe the blood off my face, but Lupin restrains me. "Madam Pomfrey knows what she's doing."

It seems like an eternity before she walks out from behind the curtain. She immediately goes to her potion supply and starts picking our bottles.

"Is she going to be okay?" I ask impatiently.

"I'll know better when she wakes up," she replies. "If the Death Eater had said the incantation aloud, it would have been much worse. However, she has quite enough damage to be going on with."

I feel like she just punched me in the stomach.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey allows Ginny and me to leave the hospital wing right away, but Ron and Hermione have to stay. The following morning, Hermione still isn't awake and Madam Pomfrey doesn't look pleased. She's administering about ten different potions and I'm finally realizing the extent of Hermione's injuries. I refuse to leave the hospital wing; I want to be by her side when she wakes up. Madam Pomfrey tries to shoo me out, but I'm adamant. Hermione is my best friend and I'm not leaving her by herself. She finally relents after making me promise to be quiet and leave her patient alone. I agree.

So I sit by Hermione's bedside all day and all night, listening to her ragged breathing and worrying. I hold her hand, begging her to wake up. She's deathly pale and her hand is ice cold. I don't know what to do.

"Nev..."

I shoot up, looking down at Hermione. Her eyelids are fluttering. "It's me, Mione," I say quickly. "It's Neville."

She opens her eyes, but seems to have trouble focusing. Confusion crosses her face and I call for Madam Pomfrey, who promptly pushes me out of the way. She pulls the curtain again, so I pace and wait.

"I'm much more optimistic about her recovery now," Madam Pomfrey says when she emerges.

I sigh with relief. "Can I go back to her now?"

I have a feeling she would roll her eyes if she could. "Be quiet."

Hermione's eyes are closed again, but I feel much better sleeping when I finally can. She's going to be okay.

When she wakes the next day, she forces me to leave the hospital wing and enjoy the end of the term and makes me promise to only come back during visiting hours. That's easier said than done, but I reluctantly comply. I don't think Hermione likes us seeing her sick in bed.

Madam Pomfrey releases her from the hospital wing three days before the end of the term and we spend most of those days sitting outside enjoying the sun with Harry and Ron. On the Hogwarts Express, we, plus Ginny and Luna, choose to sit in the same compartment. Harry and Ron play chess, Ginny does _Quibbler_ quizzes, Luna stares absently out the window, and Hermione catches up on articles from _The Daily Prophet._ I try to sleep, attempting to catch up from all the days I spent worrying in the hospital wing.

Harry accidentally makes eye contact with Cho, the latter turning red and hurrying away. Ron notices and asks, "What's, er, going on with you and her anyway?"

"Nothing," Harry replies.

"I, er, heard she's going out with someone else now," Hermione says carefully.

I'm surprised by Harry's lack of reaction. After all that time trying to her, he doesn't even care.

Ron plays the "you can do better" card, then finds out that Cho's new boyfriend is Ginny's old boyfriend. When Ginny tells him she ditched him, Ron looks positively ecstatic. "Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot. Good for you. Just choose someone better next time."

He casts a furtive look at Harry, which Harry misses, but Hermione and I pick up on. We exchange looks ourselves. I think Ginny still likes Harry, but I think she's also given up on him.

"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas; would you say he's better?" Ginny asks.

"What?!" Ron stands up so quickly that he knocks over the chessboard, causing pieces to fly everywhere.

Hermione, Ginny, and I start laughing, but Ron and Harry don't seem to enjoy our amusement. It's going to be an interesting summer, especially since _The Daily Prophet_ has finally admitted that You-Know-Who is back. They're also writing very highly of Harry again. I look over at Hermione, who still has cuts on her face and arms. We're going to end up in a war. I just know it.


	3. Sixth Year

It's funny how _The Daily Prophet_ switches from calling Harry and Dumbledore liars and saying there's no way You-Know-Who is back to calling Harry "the Chosen One" and giving warnings about how people should protect themselves from You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. Our adventure at the Ministry made it into the papers and I thought Gran would be furious, but she's actually proud of me for "finally living up to my parents' legacy." She even buys me a new wand since mine got smashed during the fighting.

Overall, though, I'm happy to be going back to school. Gran wears on you after a while. Shortly after boarding the Hogwarts Express, Harry and I are both invited to Horace Slughorn's compartment for lunch. When I ask who that is, Harry tells me he's a new teacher. So we go, but I end up wishing we hadn't. There are a few other students there and I soon realize we had only been invited because we're all connected to someone famous. The ten minutes he spends interrogating me about my parents are both painful and uncomfortable. I'm happy to leave.

Hermione, who I hadn't seen on the train because she had to patrol for her Prefect duties, catches up to me on the way to the feast. "Are you all right? Your face is awfully red."

So I tell her what happened.

Her face quickly turns red as well, but I know hers is from anger. "How inconsiderate can you possibly be? That's _Ron-level_ rude! Oh, Neville, I'm sorry."

I had laughed at "Ron-level rude," which made me feel better. "Come on. I'm ready to eat."

So we enter the Great Hall and take seats together. Dean and Seamus quickly engage us in conversation, so we talk until Professor Dumbledore stands up to make some announcements. Hermione gasps. "What happened to his hand?"

I look up at the blackened hand lying limply at his side. "It looks dead."

We're so distracted that we almost miss Professor Dumbledore's announcement that Professor Slughorn will be teaching Potions. Whispers spread throughout the room. But that means...

"Professor Snape will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"No!" Harry says loudly, but nobody hears him over applause from the Slytherin table.

Professor Dumbledore gives us a final warning to be cautious and vigilant this term, then food appears. Everyone is talking about the teacher switch and You-Know-Who.

"This is actually a good thing," Ron says, his mouth full of potatoes.

"How do you figure?" someone asks.

"The job is cursed. Snape won't last more than a year."

"I'm hoping for another death," Harry says.

"Harry!" Hermione admonishes, looking horrified.

She's right, but I wouldn't mind never seeing him again.

* * *

Before classes start, our heads of house have to check our O.W.L grades to make sure we can go into N.E.W.T classes. Hermione is immediately cleared to take Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Potions, which is no surprise given that she had 10 Outstandings and 1 Exceeds Expectations on her O.W.L.s. My schedule takes longer to sort out because Professor McGonagall won't let me into her Transfiguration class. When I tell her Gran wants me to take Transfiguration, she purses her lips and suggests Charms instead, adding that she'll write to Gran and tell her that just because _she_ failed her Charms O.W.L. doesn't make the subject useless. That makes my day, but that also means that the only classes Hermione and I will have together are Charms, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I also decide to keep taking Care of Magical Creatures. That goes hand in hand with Herbology more often than not.

So we head off to our first Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Professor Snape tells us that it's time to start learning to use nonverbal spells. Worry automatically etches across everyone's faces; even Hermione looks slightly apprehensive. She and I pair up and, before class ends, she's able to nonverbally repel my muttered Jelly-Legs Jinx. Everyone in the vicinity applauds, but Professor Snape ignores her. Any reasonable teacher would have awarded 20 points to Gryffindor for that feat.

"I hate nonverbal spells," I say to Hermione as we head to Charms.

"It's going to be quite a bit of work," she agrees.

Unfortunately for us, nonverbal spells are expected in Charms as well and also in Transfiguration, which I can sympathize with. That class is hard enough without adding that to the mix.

Our free periods, which everyone had been excited about earlier in the term, soon become the only way we can keep up with the vast amounts of work. It's not uncommon to see people turning purple in the face at meals practicing nonverbal spells and several people exert themselves to the point of passing out. Hermione chooses to get her work done in the library and avoid the common room all together, so I join her on many nights, also needing a place to get away. We don't talk much, but just being with her is nice. If excessive schoolwork is the worst thing we have to deal with this term, I'll be really happy.

* * *

I jinxed myself of course. Katie Bell, a Gryffindor, gets cursed by a necklace one weekend in Hogsmeade and ends up in St. Mungo's. Harry is convinced Malfoy gave her the necklace, but she got it in the women's bathroom. That fact doesn't deter him, though.

Then I overhear Ron and Hermione arguing in Herbology one day because Ron wasn't invited to the Slug Club-what Professor Slughorn calls the group of people he gathered on the first day on the train, plus Hermione-Christmas Party. I don't know why he's so upset. The get-togethers are dreadfully boring. Hermione and I feel bad not going, though, so we keep each other company.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your party," Ron says, venom in his voice. "Why don't you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug."

Hermione's face turns bright red. "We're allowed to bring guests and I was _going _to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid, I won't bother!"

That shuts him up.

I wish I could say that was the end, but it was only the beginning. Hermione and Ron bicker constantly, but things come to a head when Ron starts snogging Lavender Brown in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room after a Quidditch win. I look around the room for Hermione, but she's nowhere to be seen. She's not at the library either, so I wander the halls searching for her.

Eventually, I see Ron being chased and attacked by yellow canaries with Lavender and Harry following him. Found her. I enter the empty classroom, my heart dropping into my stomach. Hermione's face is soaked with tears and more canaries are fluttering wildly around her head. "Mione?" I say softly.

I duck as the canaries come flying at me. "It's me!"

They disappear. "Neville?"

"I'm here."

Hermione's face crumples and I rush to hold her. "I'm here," I say. "I'm here."

She sobs and the sound makes my heart hurt. "Why her?" Her voice is muffled by my shoulder. "Why her?"

Bloody hell I know how she feels. I spent countless nights this term close to tears saying, "Why him?" But I just stroke her hair and hold on tightly. "I don't know. He's a prat and you deserve better. Any guy would be lucky to have you."

She pulls away, laughing a little. "Me? Look at me. I'm disgusting."

Her hair is bushier than usual, her nose is running, and her eyes are rimmed with red, but it doesn't matter. "You're still beautiful."

She shakes her head. "I'm not. But thanks for trying."

I pull her in for another hug. I want to kill Ron for hurting her. "I'm always here for you."

"Thanks, Neville. You're a good friend."

Friend. Always just a friend. But I'll take it.

* * *

I never see Hermione and Ron in the same room outside of classes after that night. Ron and Lavender are constantly snogging, especially in the common room, so Hermione spends most of her time in the library. I join her most nights; even Harry joins her sometimes. He's obsessed with Draco Malfoy being up to something evil, though, which can wear on you.

Then Ron gets poisoned by mead and ends up in the hospital wing. Hermione's beside herself with worry when she finds out, immediately rushing to his side. Between that, Ron apparently calling out her name while he was sleeping, and them actually spending time together when he's released, Ron and Lavender's relationship gets strained. She's terribly jealous of Hermione and she and Ron end up breaking up.

I should be glad Hermione's happy again, but I'm cautious. Ron is the only person capable of shattering her heart and I'm terrified he will. I do appreciate that things are back to normal, though.

Normal doesn't last long of course. One night I'm awoken by people screaming and see the Dark Mark in the sky. The fake Galleon Hermione had given the DA members is glowing; Harry needs us. I don't even bother changing; I just grab shoes and run.

I see Luna and Ginny, and also a ton of Death Eaters. Then everything goes black. Nothing can penetrate the darkness, almost like Fred and George's Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. I hear Lupin and Tonks yelling to each other as the darkness clears. Malfoy, Snape, and a bunch of Death Eaters are running for the doors. We take off after them, running as fast as we can.

_Smack!_ Lupin and I go flying backwards, landing hard on the ground. Tonks waves her wand angrily while Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout help us to our feet. I have no idea where they came from.

"A cursed barrier!" Tonks says. "When I get my hands on them..."

I'm dizzy, really dizzy, and I'm only dimly aware of being led to the hospital wing. "Snape killed Dumbledore" is that last thing I hear before I fall asleep.

Hermione is the first person I see when I wake up. I reach for her, then wince. She shakes her head. "You need to rest. Madam Pomfrey said your injuries are minor, but you still need to heal."

"What happened?"

She sets her mouth in a line. "Malfoy let the Death Eaters in through a Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. They stormed the castle and Snape killed Professor Dumbledore."

"What?!" I try to sit up, but my head throbs so hard I fall back down.

"Ms. Granger, he's supposed to be resting," Madam Pomfrey says sternly.

"I won't sit up again, I promise." I turn back to Hermione. "He's _dead?!"_

She nods sadly. "Yes."

"Are there any other casualties?" I notice Lupin asleep in the bed next to me, with Tonks snoozing in the chair next to him. The rest of the room is empty.

"One or two Death Eaters. Nobody on our side."

"Good."

Hermione fusses with my pillows and blanket. "You should sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

And she is. She also helps me to my seat on the day of Professor Dumbledore's funeral. People from all over come to pay their respects; even the centaurs come to the edge of the forest. Hermione cries throughout the service, but chooses to cry on Ron's shoulder. They look so comfortable that I feel sick. I guess things really _are_ back to normal. I guess they'll be dating by next term. Great.

I look out at the water, listening to the sad phoenix cry. What's going to happen now? Professor Dumbledore is dead, the only person You-Know-Who is afraid of. What's going to stop him from returning to power now? Dread bubbles up, closing my throat. What if we don't have a future?


	4. Seventh Year Part 1

I get an owl from Hermione early in the summer.

_Dear Neville, _

_ I wanted to let you know that I won't be coming back to Hogwarts in the fall. I can't tell you where I'm going, but I didn't want you to worry when you didn't see me on the Hogwarts Express. I hope to see you soon. _

_Love, Hermione_

My heart drops. But what am I going to do without her? There's no way she's going into hiding like the other Muggleborns, so where is she going?

Gran, who had been reading over my shoulder, nods approvingly. "She and Harry Potter are going on a mission. They're going to figure out how to defeat You-Know-Who."

Hope surges up. Maybe that's it. Nothing bad.

"Hogwarts was already going to be very different without Albus Dumbledore," Gran says thoughtfully. "Though Minerva McGonagall is perfectly capable, mind you. But without Harry Potter...even without Hermione Granger...that's going to be odd. Very odd."

That's going to be more than odd. I've never gone through classes without Hermione by my side. We spend most nights together doing homework or just talking. We go to Hogsmeade together on the weekends. Whenever things go wrong, she's there. She understands the situation with my parents. She protects me. She's my best friend. I need her to come back in one piece.

"She'll be fine," Gran says, as though she can read my mind. "Look at how many scrapes she's pulled through already. Harry Potter too."

That makes me feel a little better.

* * *

The good feeling goes away as the summer progresses. There's lots of news coverage on Professor Dumbledore's death; even that awful Rita Skeeter writes a 900-page book on him. Full of lies, of course. She even insinuates that _Harry_ was responsible for his death! Nobody's going to believe that. There's no way.

Then Harry's face is front and center on _The Daily Prophet_ with the headline, "Wanted for questioning about the death of Albus Dumbledore."

"This is mad," I say to Gran. "Everyone knows it was Snape who killed Dumbledore. Harry said so!"

She shakes her head sadly. "You-Know-Who has taken over _The Daily Prophet_. What better way to tell people what to think? Mark my words, the Ministry is next."

I don't want to believe her, then I find an article about Muggleborns. "_Recent research undertaken by the Department of Mysteries reveals that magic can only be passed from person to person when wizards reproduce_," I read aloud. "_Where no proven wizarding ancestry exists, therefore, the so-called Muggleborn is likely to have obtained magical power by threat or force_. They want all the Muggleborns to register with the Ministry to conduct 'research' about how they can do magic. They're rounding up all the Muggleborns!"

"And there's You-Know-Who's influence in the Ministry."

"But if you could steal magic, there wouldn't be any Squibs!"

"I know. I know."

Shortly afterward, a list of Muggleborns who didn't present themselves to the Ministry is published. Of course, Hermione's name is on that list. I hope she's okay. They also start publishing extracts from Skeeter's book in each paper to crush people's confidence in Professor Dumbledore as well. It's not even a newspaper anymore; it's Death Eater propaganda.

Even Hogwarts isn't safe. Attendance is now compulsory and all students must be given Blood Status, which means you have to prove you're of Wizarding descent, to attend. Then there are three big shake ups in teaching: Alecto and Amycus Carrow will be teaching Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts, respectively, and Severus Snape is confirmed as the new Hogwarts _headmaster._

"This is absolutely mad," Ginny says as she, Luna, and I talk quietly on the Hogwarts Express. "What are we going to do?"

"I wish Harry was here," Luna says, sounding more coherent than usual.

"Have you talked to him?" I ask Ginny.

She shakes her head. "He, Hermione, and Ron disappeared the day of Fleur and Bill's wedding. Have you talked to Hermione?"

I shake my head too. "I got an owl from her at the beginning of the summer saying she isn't coming back this term, but she couldn't say why."

"Harry wouldn't tell me where they were going either."

"At least they're together," Luna says.

"We have to stick together too," I say. "I have a feeling this term is going to be very...different than what were used to. We have to protect each other."

"Agreed," they say together.

We're interrupted by the arrival of several former DA members, so the conversation shifts to the new teachers. Everyone's nervous. I'm glad it's not just me.

* * *

As it turns out, we're right to be nervous. Dementors are all around the boundary walls and Snape-I can't even call him "professor" anymore-makes sure to tell us that all the secret passageways out of Hogwarts are carefully cursed and guarded. There are also regular patrols inside the school by the Carrows and their student minions, all Slytherins.

Defense Against the Dark Arts becomes simply Dark Arts and we're expected to perform Unforgivable Curses and every other Dark spell out there. And Muggle Studies is compulsory now, but it's no longer the study of Muggles' daily lives, how they cope without magic, and how they aren't so different from us. _This_ class focuses on how Muggles are inferior and terrible.

"Define 'Muggle,'" Alecto says on the first day of class.

"A person born into a non-magical family who is incapable of performing magic," someone says.

"Wrong. Muggles are inferior scum. They're stupid and dirty and need to be controlled by Wizards. They're like House Elves, no better than slaves."

"_What?!"_ several people, myself included, say incredulously.

"Silence!" Alecto yells. "Now define 'Mudblood.'"

I wince automatically; I've heard Draco Malfoy throw that word at Hermione too many times. "A derogatory term for a witch or wizard born to Muggles."

"Not derogatory. Muggles don't have the power of magic. Those who claim they do stole it from Wizards!"

I've had enough. "I know a Muggleborn who is a better witch than all the Death Eaters put together!"

Silence. Alecto points her wand at me. "You have five seconds to take that back."

"No! I refuse. I won't listen to your lies."

"_Crucio_!"

My entire body is wracked with pain, but I refuse to cry out. This actually hurts less than Bellatrix Lestrange's spell. Eventually she drops me and turns to the class. "Let that be a lesson for all of you."

"I thought she was going to kill you," Ginny says, worried, as we walk out of class. I'm limping.

"We have to do something." I've never been so mad in my life. "If she thinks I'm going to sit in that class and listen to her insult my best friend for the entire term..." I pause. "We need to go get Luna."

But Luna finds us first and passes us a copy of _The Quibbler_. "Daddy is printing everything _The Daily Prophet_ refuses to."

I look at the front page, at the bold words that say, "Any Wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number-one priority."

It's a start.

* * *

"Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting." That's our first small fight back: graffiti of those words on the walls. It annoys Snape so much that he reinstates Umbridge's old decree forbidding gatherings of three or more students or any unofficial student societies. One small victory.

We use Fred and George's products to annoy Snape and the Carrows, just like they did, but that gets hard with them checking everyone's mail and then banning Ginny, Luna, and me from going into Hogsmeade. So we escalate, sneaking into Snape's office to steal the sword of Gryffindor. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with it when we have it, but it's one more revolt against him. Then we're caught sneaking the sword down the stairs and punished cruelly. Or what they think is cruelly anyway. They send us to the Forbidden Forest to do work with Hagrid. He keeps us safe; we return with minor cuts, mostly inflicted by tree branches.

It's actually not uncommon to see people walking around with cuts, scratches, and black eyes as the term progresses; the Carrows are in charge of punishment and they love physical torture. Teachers are supposed to refer us to them if we do anything wrong, but they hate the Carrows as much as we do, so they avoid it if they can.

Other classes are business as usual, though they try to introduce Death Eater propaganda into History of Magic and try to force Professor Flitwick to teach students any and all spells that would give them dominion over another. He refuses, saying he's not going to teach spells above his students' comprehension levels. Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout are doing everything in their power to keep us safe, but the Ministry already hates Professor McGonagall.

I still get _The Daily Prophet_, taking a page out of Hermione's book to keep track of what the Ministry is saying. They're offering a reward to anyone who captures Muggleborns and blood traitors, which makes me worry for Hermione, Ron, and Ginny's safety. I'm happy for _The Quibbler _and also _Potterwatch_ for giving the real news, though.

_Potterwatch_ is the best. Lee Jordan, whose code name on the program is "River" and Fred Weasley, or "Rapier," started it as a way of giving people who are on Harry Potter's side, or at least against You-Know-Who, the real news. Kingsley Shacklebolt ("Royal") and Lupin ("Romulus") bring news too. They talk about the people who have been arrested or killed and other related news. They urge people to cast a protective charm over Muggle dwellings on their street because, to quote Royal, "Every life is worth the same. There's a slippery slope from 'Wizards first' to 'Purebloods first' then to 'Death Eaters.'"

The only problem is that, like many people, they have to constantly move. You need a password to access the program, but sometimes Death Eaters stumble onto it. They want to silence all the voices against them. I think that's why they pull Luna off the Hogwarts Express on the way home for the holidays: because of her father's writings. The next time I see _The Quibbler_ Harry's picture is on the front, captioned with the words "Undesirable Number 1" and the reward money. They got to him.

It works well actually. Relatives on the outside of Hogwarts causing trouble? Kidnap the students and hold them hostage to silence them. That had started happening a lot right before the holidays. I'm not surprised to see many people missing when we come back. Even Ginny's gone. I'm hoping she and her family are in hiding, though; there's a reward out for all of them because they're the biggest blood traitors around.

Not having Luna and Ginny around makes it harder to outwardly rebel against Snape and the Carrows. After Michael Corner gets caught and tortured for releasing a chained up First-Year, people get scared. The mutiny continues, though; it's just more underground. Except for me. I refuse to let them silence me. When we are forced to perform the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detention during Dark Arts, I refuse. People like Crabbe and Goyle enjoy it, but I won't inflict harm on innocent people. I receive a deep gash on my cheek for causing trouble.

Then I speak out during Muggle Studies. I'm sick of hearing that Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty; how they drove Wizards into hiding by being vicious towards them; and how the natural order is being established and what exactly that entails. So I stand up. "So exactly how much Muggle blood do you and your brother have?"

Several people gasp and Alecto's face gets really red. She raises her wand, screaming at me as she cuts up my arms and cheek. But I don't care. The look on her face is worth it.

It can't go on forever, though. I receive word that they decided to go after Gran to shut me up; after all, it works when students are kidnapped, so why can't it work the other way? They send a weak Death Eater against her, though, and she sends him to St. Mungo's. So she's on the run, but she manages to send me a letter saying how proud she is of me, how I'm my parents' son, and to keep it up. I keep that letter close. Gran never says she's proud of me.

But now I know I'm in trouble too. I don't know what they're going to do to me, but I need to disappear. So I go to the only safe place I can think of: The Room of Requirement. I enter carefully, making sure nobody is around, and find a hammock and Gryffindor hangings. My safe place.

I lie in the hammock and let my thoughts wander. I need a plan of attack. I need to get word to all the DA members. But, right now, I need to sleep. I'm not going to be able to plan without sleep. My thoughts, like so many other nights, wander to Hermione. I really hope she's okay. I've had this nagging feeling in my chest that something's horribly wrong, but I don't know what it is. I miss her like crazy. If she and Harry were here, it would be so much better.

* * *

I'm hungry when I wake up, so I think about how to get food. Then a passage in the wall opens up suddenly. I jump, surprised, then decide to follow it. It's a long, narrow, winding journey, but I eventually see a pale girl, a ghost almost. She beckons me and I follow, ending up next to her in a portrait looking into Hog's Head. A man who looks eerily similar to Professor Dumbledore looks up at us. "Neville Longbottom. Come down here. Mind your step."

"Aberforth Dumbledore?" I ask cautiously, not sure if I can trust him.

"I suppose you've been reading Rita Skeeter."

"I wouldn't read that rag. My gran mentioned you once."

We're both sizing each other up, I realize. He relaxes a little. "Ah yes, I know Augusta well. Wonderful woman, she is. Hard-nosed. Glad she escaped the Death Eaters."

"You know her?"

He hands me some bread and pumpkin juice. "You look like you could use this. You're on the run, I take it."

I almost choke, spilling juice down the front of me. "How do you know?"

"Not just anyone can make the passage open," he replies as I use my wand to clean the mess. He softens. "And she doesn't trust just anyone." He jerks his head at the portrait. "My sister, Ariana."

Before I can say anything, he looks toward the door and his demeanor changes. "Take

that with you. Come back tonight after I close. We'll talk more then."

So I do. I'm going to get the DA into the Room of Requirement so we're all safe and we're going to plan how to fight Snape and the Carrows. When I briefly tell Aberforth my plan, he agrees to provide us with food.

"Thank you," I say, surprised and grateful. "I'll pay you back as soon as the war is over."

"Augusta did me a good turn once," he replies. "It's about time I returned the favor."

"Thank you," I say again and join Ariana in her portrait.

So I start contacting DA members, giving silent thanks to Hermione for her Galleons. Before long, Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown, the Patil twins, Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner are living with me in the Room of Requirement. The Room is great; as the number of us grows, it adds more hammocks, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff hangings, and even a proper bathroom. We have a wireless too, so we can listen to _Potterwatch_. That's how we hear about Harry breaking into Gringott's and escaping on a dragon, which is awesome.

"He's going to come here," I say. "He's going to come here and we're going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

"I wish we knew _when_ he'll be here," Seamus says.

So do I.


	5. Seventh Year Part 2

We pass the time practicing spells so we'll be ready to fight and listening to the wireless. Aberforth keeps me up to date on news from the outside by supplying me with his copies of _The Daily Prophet_ and _The Quibbler._ The "Wanted" list is getting bigger and bigger; it now includes Harry, Hermione, the entire Weasley family, Gran, and me, among others. I guess they think it's possible that I left Hogwarts.

Ariana comes to get me one night, so I follow her down the passage to Hog's Head. When I look out into the bar, I see a boy with messy black hair and glasses-Harry! I immediately jump down from the mantelpiece to hug him. "I knew you'd come! I knew it, Harry!"

Then I see Ron and Hermione behind him and grab them too. Hermione's face actually looks similar to mine right now: cuts, scrapes, and the remnants of a black eye. I feel that familiar tug in my chest. Man, I missed her.

"Neville, what's happened to you?" Harry asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"What? This?" I point at my face. "This is nothing. Seamus is worse. You'll see. Shall we be going then?" I turn to Aberforth before we enter the passage. "Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."

He gives me a look. "Couple more? What do you mean couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!"

"I know. That's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar. Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot."

He grunts in agreement and I climb up onto the mantel, offering my hand to Hermione to help her up. I ignore the tingle in my fingers when she takes my hand and use the Galleon to quickly alert the other DA members while Ron and Harry climb up.

We follow the passage and I briefly fill them in on the happenings at Hogwarts, mostly the classes and the punishments, which make their jaws drop. "Blimey, Neville," Ron says. "There's a time and a place for getting a smart mouth."

Funny. I had expected Hermione to give me that lecture. "You didn't hear her," I reply. "You wouldn't have stood it either. The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them. It gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry."

"But they've used you as a knife sharpener," Ron argues.

I shrug. "Doesn't matter. They don't want to spill too much pure blood, so they'll torture us a bit if we're mouthy, but won't actually kill us."

Hermione visibly shudders, but nobody responds to that. They know it's true.

At the end of the corridor, I push open the door and yell, "Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"

Everyone explodes, screaming their names, hugging them, shaking their hands...you'd think we just won the Quidditch final. I tell everyone that they did indeed break into Gringott's and escape on a dragon, which leads to more yelling.

"What were you after?" Seamus asks, excitedly.

Harry doesn't respond; he's gone really pale and is shaking. He finally looks at Ron and Hermione. "We need to get going."

"What are we going to do then, Harry?" Seamus asks. "What's the plan?"

I notice others standing excitedly, ready for action. I know I am. We've been waiting for them to arrive for what feels like forever. We need to take back our school.

But Harry sucks the life out of the room. He tells us that Dumbledore left him, Hermione, and Ron a secret mission and they have to do it alone.

Cue the arguing. The DA should help with anything Harry needs. That's what we're here for and I tell him that. "I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore and to you."

Before Harry can respond-he doesn't look like he _has_ a response-the passage door opens and Luna and Dean come running in. I breathe a sigh of relief. Luna had told me she was okay, but it's nice to have the proof of it in front of me.

Harry looks confused. "Luna, what are you doing here? How did you..." His voice trails off.

I hold up my fake Galleon. "I sent for her. We all thought if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

"Of course that's what it means," Luna says. "Isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"

"Listen, I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for," Harry says, and I feel my face getting hot. "There's something we've got to do then-"

Michael cuts him off. He's angry too. "You're going to leave us in this mess!"

"No!" Ron says quickly. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end; it's about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who-"

My anger finally explodes. "Then let us help!" I shout. "We want to be part of it!"

We're interrupted again by the passage door. Hermione, Harry, and Ron have an urgent whispered conversation while Ginny, Fred and George, Lee Jordan, and Cho Chang climb into the room. Harry finally turns to look at us, saying something completely unexpected: he needs to go to the Ravenclaw Common Room and find some kind of item that will help us defeat You-Know-Who.

Cho offers to go with him, but Ginny fiercely volunteers Luna to go instead. I recognize the jealousy. She still worries about whether or not Harry actually loves her sometimes.

Ron and Hermione leave shortly afterward, muttering something about a cup and a bathroom, and I feel my own jealousy flare up. I'm happy when the passage opens once again and the rest of the cavalry arrives: the remaining members of The Order of the Phoenix, Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Bill and Fleur, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Then Harry comes rushing back in, his face pale. "Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school, and Snape's run for it!"

It takes a second to process the information, then everyone jumps up at once, running out into the main part of the castle. Suits of armor march past us, the portraits are yelling, and the teachers herd us into the Great Hall to wait for Professor McGonagall's instructions. I look around while she's speaking. Everyone's faces are a mix of nervousness, anxiety, and fear, but I see a lot of determination as well. Good. That's how I'm feeling right now. Anxious, but determined.

Then a high, cold voice interrupts Professor McGonagall. "I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

You-Know-Who. His voice cuts right through me. Katie Bell, standing beside me, shivers.

"Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Every eye goes to Harry, who is standing on one of the tables. He had been looking for Ron and Hermione. Pansy Parkinson stands up, pointing. "But he's there! Potter's _there_! Someone grab him!"

No! Almost in unison, every Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff stands and faces the Slytherin table, wands drawn. I feel a surge of pride and hope. Everyone wants to protect Harry. Professor McGonagall looks mad, but keeps her voice level as she starts forcing the underage out. Anyone who's of age is allowed to stay and fight; when the hall empties, Slytherin is deserted, but most people from the other Houses stayed. Good.

Then Kingsley Shacklebolt steps up to explain the battle plan. He's put certain people in charge to cover the three highest towers, the grounds, the entrances to the school, etc. We just have to split up and choose which leader we want to help. So I end up with Professor Sprout, a half dozen other students, and a seemingly endless supply of Devil's Snare, Mandrakes, Venomous Tentacula, and Snargaluff pods.

"I'd love to see the Death Eaters fighting these," she says, holding up one of the Snargaluff pods.

We laugh, though it really isn't funny right now. Despite all of our efforts, the Death Eaters still storm the school. So we fight.

* * *

The battle itself is a blur. People are everywhere and it seems like there are almost as many Death Eaters as people fighting them. Students are running in every direction, some carrying or dragging injured friends. I try not to look at the bodies on the floor as I throw Venomous Tentacula on the Death Eaters and watch it reel them in. I'm not ready to know who died yet. Even Peeves joins in, dropping Snargaluff pods on the Death Eaters and giggling as they're engulfed in the wiggling green tubers. I wish I could high-five him.

Eventually, You-Know-Who's icy voice booms throughout the castle. "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately."

I tune out the rest of his message and look around as the Death Eaters leave the castle. I'm honestly surprised. I hadn't expected it to be that easy.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. I shall wait one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has concealed you from me. One hour."

Everyone's looking around, but I don't see Harry anywhere. Professor McGonagall orders the dead to be laid in a row in the middle of the Great Hall and the injured to be taken to Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey sets up a raised platform and gathers a group of people to help her treat the injured. People start moving, hugging their loved ones, and I keep an eye peeled as I help Kingsley Shacklebolt with Lupin's body. He and Tonks had both been killed, but it doesn't look like anybody from the DA was seriously injured.

"Ron!" I hear Molly Weasley yell, and jump up quickly. Ron and Hermione are standing in the doorway, looking around. Relief rushes through me. She's okay. I do a quick head count as they start walking over. All the Weasleys are alive. Good. Hermione is looking around frantically, so I raise a hand to wave in case she's looking for me.

"Neville!" And Hermione runs toward me, closing the distance and flinging her arms around my neck. "Thank Merlin, you're okay!"

I hold her tightly, wishing I didn't ever have to let go. But we have to go gather the dead and injured. I sigh. This is going to be tough.

It's a slow process. More people seem to be injured than dead, but the dead are people who break my heart. I look down at the lifeless face of Colin Creevey. He must have snuck back in when a group of Slytherins decided to come back and fight. I guess they had a change of heart.

"Neville."

I jump, my heart pounding as I turn around. "Blimey, Harry, you nearly gave me heart failure!" Then I notice Ron and Hermione aren't with him. "Where are you going alone?"

"It's all part of the plan. There's something I've got to do. Listen, Neville-"

But I cut him off, fear slicing through me. "Harry! You're not thinking of handing yourself over?"

"No. 'Course not...this is something else. But I might be out of sight for a while. You know Voldemort's snake? He's got a huge snake, calls it Nagini..."

I had been relieved when Harry said he's not handing himself over, but now I'm confused. What does You-Know-Who's snake have to do with anything? "What about it?"

"It's got to be killed. Ron and Hermione know that, but just in case they-" He breaks off, swallowing hard, and I know what he's thinking. They're not going to die. They can't die. "Just in case they're...busy...and you get the chance."

I nod quickly. "I'll kill the snake."

"Thank you."

But his face is pale and he still looks worried, so I grab his wrist before he can leave. "We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?" But I don't wait for an answer; I just pat him on the shoulder and pick up Colin Creevey's body. Poor kid.

The number of dead and seriously injured is actually much smaller than I expected. Hermione and I help Lavender Brown, who has a nasty cut on her head, to Madam Pomfrey, who looks nervously at the clock. "Our hour is almost up."

Hermione pats her arm. "Everything will be okay."

Then that voice echoes through the Hall again. "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."

Hermione and I look at each other simultaneously. "No," she whimpers, her eyes filling with tears.

I reach over and squeeze her hand as he continues. "The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you will be spared."

I keep a firm hold on Hermione's hand as we join everyone running out of the castle. Harry's not dead. He can't be dead.

"No!" Professor McGonagall, the first person out, yells.

Hagrid is standing with You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters, tears falling in rivers down his cheeks, Harry's lifeless body at his feet. Everyone else starts screaming too. No. It can't be true. I hold Hermione, who's shaking, tightly. No.

You-Know-Who silences us, spewing lies about Harry being a coward and leaving to save himself and being killed. Everyone starts screaming again and I'm shaking now, but with fury. I charge forward, sending a curse toward You-Know-Who, but he Disarms me, throwing me backward onto the grass.

"And who is this?" he asks, looking down at me with distaste. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Bellatrix, who is standing by his side, laughs. I clench my fists; I wish I could hex her. "It's Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I remember."

I struggle to get to my feet, glaring at both of them. I look into his eyes, my anger growing. I'm not scared. I don't feel scared at all.

"But you're a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

"So what if I am?"

"You show spirit and bravery and you come from noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

Me? After torturing my parents and killing Harry Potter? My anger boils over. "I'll join you when hell freezes over! Dumbledore's Army!"

Cheers echo behind me and You-Know-Who waves his wand, his own anger clear on his face. I try not to flinch as I hear glass breaking and suddenly You-Know-Who is holding the Sorting Hat between two fingers like a piece of rubbish. "There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

Before I can react, I feel my body grow rigid and still, a Body-Binding Curse. He forces the Sorting Hat onto my head, over my eyes. "Neville here is going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me."

I feel the hat get hot and my heart start pounding-he set it on fire! I struggle as I hear screaming, heavy footfalls, hooves, and swooshing that sounds like arrows. What is going on?

Suddenly, my body loosens and the hat falls off, the sword of Gryffindor falling into my hands. I look up; the snake is right in front of me and You-Know-Who is distracted. So I swing, cutting the head of the snake off and sending it flying through the air.

You-Know-Who screams and raises his wand, but nothing hits. He staggers as a Death Eater falls into him, impaled by an arrow, and I see giants, centaurs, threstrals, and other creatures attacking. Finally, everyone is forced back inside the castle to escape being crushed.

Curses are flying furiously and, at first, I spend more time casting Shield Charms to protect my friends than dueling. Even the House elves join the fight, attacking the Death Eaters with knives and cleavers. Before I can blink, I'm pulled into a fight with Bellatrix and Hermione.

Bellatrix is tough. We're holding our own, but I'm worried we aren't going to be able to defeat her. Then she starts laughing, an evil, maniacal sound. "How perfect! I'll get to kill a Mudblood and a blood traitor at the same time!"

She's distracted by mocking us, so I send the strongest non-lethal curse I can think of at her and hear Hermione yell the same one. The curses hit Bellatrix at the same time, right in the chest, directly over her heart. People nearby scream as she falls and three Death Eaters instantly descend upon us, separating us and attacking with everything they have. I faintly hear You-Know-Who screaming too, then someone yells, "_Protego!"_

Everyone turns to the voice and I see Harry pull off his Invisibility Cloak. The room erupts in cheers, but abruptly stops when You-Know-Who and Harry start circling each other, keeping the same distance away. Harry yells at everyone not to help him, but I don't think anybody had planned to. We know this is his fight.

I look frantically for Hermione they circle, but I don't see her. Then I'm distracted by Harry and You-Know-Who talking to each other; Harry is _mocking_ him! I see You-Know-Who's chest rising and falling rapidly as Harry tells him why he will never master the Elder Wand and I know it's just a matter of time before he attacks.

The sun is rising, sending a red-gold light across both their faces, obscuring them. I hold my breath as they both raise their wands. This is going to be it. I know it.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

A bang echoes across the room as gold flames erupt in the center of the room where their spells meet. You-Know-Who's wand flies through the air towards Harry, who catches it, and his body crumples, falling backward onto the floor, dead.

Everyone just stares, silent, and I know they're feeling the same emotion I am: shock. Then the room explodes with cheers and everyone rushes Harry at once. I scan the incoming crowd quickly, looking for bushy hair. Nothing. Finally, I make my way to Harry and Ron. "Where's Hermione?"

Fear flashes across both their faces as the three of us climb into the nearest table, looking around frantically. Hermione's not dead. We just beat Bellatrix together. She's fine. Just fine.

"There she is!" Ron yells, pointing.

Hermione makes her way through the crowd, leaning heavily on Draco Malfoy, blood gushing from a head wound. We all raise our wands, pointing them at Malfoy. "Get away from her!" Ron says. "Now!"

"No!" Hermione yells, surprising us. "He saved my life!"

What? Harry looks at Malfoy. "Really?"

He nods solemnly. "She saved my life and I saved hers."

Wow. So I support Hermione's other side and we help her over to Madam Pomfrey. Malfoy has blood gushing from his arm, so he needs to be taken care of too. I want to stay with them, but members of the DA mob me. Then my own admirers, mostly women, join me, which is honestly really weird. By the time I finally separate myself, Hermione, Ron, and Harry have disappeared.

"Neville!"

I know that voice, but there's no way...I turn and see _Gran_ coming through the crowd. "What are you doing here?"

"Fighting, of course," she says, and pulls me into a tight hug. "I'm so _proud_ of you! Standing up to You-Know-Who! Killing Bellatrix Lestrange! You truly are your parents' son."

I feel my face turning crimson, so I simply say, "I had help with the second part."

She pulls back, her hands on my shoulders. "Don't downplay it, grandson. You did some truly amazing things this year."

"Thanks, Gran."

She hugs me again, then looks around us. "Now where's Hermione Granger? I'm sure you want to see her before we leave."

I shrug, looking around as well. "I haven't seen her since-"

Hermione herself cuts me off, waving from across the room. "Neville!"

"I'll give you some privacy," Gran says, quietly making her exit.

I hold Hermione for a long time, burying my face in her bushy hair. Even though she smells of singed clothing, sweat, and blood, I still detect a very faint hint of lilac, which I always associate with her. It's comforting.

"Where are you going now?" I ask, wishing I had the courage to hold her hands.

"Mrs. Weasley invited me to stay with them until I can go to Australia to locate my parents. I'm going to ask Mr. Shacklebolt to help."

"Good luck." I don't know what else to say.

"Thank you."

We stand there in silence for a moment, and I feel an overwhelming urge to kiss her like the heroes do in books. But I know this isn't the right time. So I hold my arms out again.

She holds me tightly and we promise to keep in touch before she walks away. I notice Ron loop his arm around her waist and feel a pang of jealousy. I don't know what happened when they were all away together and I'm not sure I want to.

I look around the Great Hall one more time. There are more survivors than not, which makes my happy. I can't believe the war is finally over.


	6. Back at Hogwarts Part 1

And so the war ends. After many funerals, I go home to spend the summer with my gran and Hermione and Harry go to stay with the Weasleys. Hermione and I are going back to Hogwarts in the fall to finish our seventh year, but Harry and Ron choose to go straight into Auror training. Hermione and I could have done the same, but we want to finish school first. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the new Minister of Magic, is relaxing Auror qualifications slightly for those of us who played significant roles in the Battle at Hogwarts, which is good for me because Professor McGonagall still won't let me take Transfiguration.

Hermione and I keep in touch via owl while we're separated, which is a saving grace. I'm bored, even though I'm getting a lot of fan mail. The Battle at Hogwarts and Harry's interview afterwards had made Hermione, Ron, and me famous as well. Now I know why Harry hated being in the spotlight all the time.

"Looks like you've got mail," Gran says, nodding toward the window where Harry's new owl is perched.

I unroll the parchment and start reading. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

I read the letter aloud. "_Dear Neville, Remember when I said I was going to take a trip to Australia once Mr. Shacklebolt found a location on my parents? It looks like that trip won't be necessary. Apparently my parents died in a car accident two months ago. I'm okay, so don't worry; I'm just processing everything. I can't wait to see you September 1st. Love, Hermione_."

Even though I know Hermione doesn't write "love" in a romantic way, it still makes my heart skip a beat. Pathetic, really.

"Poor dear," Gran says sympathetically. "After everything she's been through."

I look down at the letter again. _I can't wait to see you September 1st_. I can't wait either.

* * *

"Neville!" I hear as I lug my stuff to the Hogwarts Express.

I turn, smiling automatically. "Hermione!"

She hugs me quickly, then says hello to Gran. "Good to see you again, Mrs. Longbottom."

"You too, dear," she replies. "I'm so sorry to hear about your parents."

"Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it."

Gran pulls me aside while Hermione is distracted with Ginny and Luna. "You have been talking about Hermione Granger for seven years now. It's time to do something about your feelings."

I don't respond, just say good-bye and join the girls in the hunt for a compartment. Soon after we sit down, Draco Malfoy opens the door, looking slightly apprehensive. "Mind if I join you?"

Ginny makes a face, but Hermione nods. "Sure."

I know Malfoy fought on our side in the war and he and Hermione saved each other's lives, but it's still weird having him around. Hermione thinks we all need to get past past hatred and I agree with her.

"What's that on your arm?" I ask, noticing cuts as Hermione leans across me to open the blinds blocking the window.

She looks down, her smile disappearing. When I look more closely, I see the word _Mudblood_. "War injury," she replies.

"What happened? You didn't tell me anything about that." My voice is higher than I intended.

She sighs. "Harry, Ron, and I got captured during our hunt for the horcruxes and brought to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange saw the sword from Gryffindor and panicked, thinking we had been in her vault at Gringott's. She chose to torture me for information and sent Harry and Ron into a prison in the cellar." She breaks off, swallowing hard.

"It was terrible," Malfoy says, speaking overly loudly and quickly. "She tortured Hermione with the Cruciatus Curse and her knife, carving that into her arm. I wanted to look away so badly; it hurt so bad to watch. But Hermione just kept lying, saying the sword was a copy. I don't know how she did it."

The Cruciatus Curse. Just the word makes me shiver. Malfoy actually looks legitimately upset, which is weird.

"We kept hearing her screaming," Luna says solemnly. "Ron was almost crying, pounding on the walls and yelling her name. Dobby rescued all of us and took us to Shell Cottage, and, honestly, we all thought Hermione was dead. She was pale and unconscious and bloody and a ton of her bones were broken. Fleur had to use Skele-Grow on her."

"Can we talk about something else?" Hermione breaks in, her face red. "What classes are you all taking this term?"

The others allow the subject to change, but I tune out. Hermione was tortured. Tortured by the same woman who drove my parents to insanity. But she survived. She survived and she helped all of us defeat Voldemort and she gave up everything to do it. That kind of bravery...wow.

The subject doesn't return to the war; we talk about everything but. We speculate about who's coming back this term and who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. That leads to jokes about the former professors and a quick moment of silence in Lupin's memory. By the time we get to the Great Hall for dinner, I'm starving. Looking around, Gryffindor's, Ravenclaw's, and Hufflepuff's tables are full, but Slytherin has lost at least a quarter of its students. It's weird seeing Malfoy sitting alone and not flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. They had both died in the war. I do see Hermione shoot him a smile when she takes her seat at Gryffindor's table, which seems to cheer him up.

Dumbledore's big chair is still empty, even though his job isn't, and I have a feeling it's out of respect. Once everyone is seated, Professor McGonagall taps her glass to get everyone to quiet down.

"Before I begin with the usual start of the school year announcements, I want to clear up some rumors and other nasty things I have been overhearing," she says. "Every single person in this hall right now fought on our side, on Harry Potter's side, during the war. The Slytherin number is obviously smaller this year, but everyone presently at that table fought _against_ Lord Voldemort. I don't want to hear anyone say otherwise. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor," everyone chants.

"Now to address the case of Professor Snape. Many believe he is a terrible murderer, but I have information to quite the contrary."

A murmur goes through the student body, but they quiet when Professor McGonagall speaks again. "Professor Snape was a double agent, yes, but he was extremely loyal to Professor Dumbledore. God rest both their souls. Professor Dumbledore knew of all of Lord Voldemort's plans because of Professor Snape, and Professor Snape also played a role in protecting Harry Potter from the time he was a child."

Professor McGonagall pauses, obvious tears in her eyes. "Many of you may have noticed Professor Dumbledore's blackened hand. It had been cursed, and, at the time he died, he would have only had about a year more to live. He knew about Lord Voldemort's plan to kill him, so he asked Professor Snape to do the deed to keep innocent lives innocent."

Harry had told us about Snape during the days we spent together after the war, so I already know who was supposed to kill Professor Dumbledore, even though Professor McGonagall doesn't say the name aloud. I glance over at Malfoy, whose eyes are also cast down. For the first time in my life, I feel sorry for him. He had been punished because of his prat of a father, and I truly believed what he told Hermione: he had never wanted any part of Voldemort's plan.

"Professor Snape saved Professor Dumbledore from a drawn out and painful death, and Professor Dumbledore never lost faith in him. For his noble actions, he is indeed a hero. Everyone who fought in the war last year is a hero. Let us have a moment of silence for Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and all those who lost their lives during the war."

Everyone bows their heads, and I see tears falling from Hermione's eyes. She had lost so much and I really feel for her. I had been lucky; I still have Gran. I still can't believe she fought in the battle last term.

Professor McGonagall wipes her tears away and smiles. "Welcome to a new term. I'm happy to see so many familiar faces. As most of you know, I'm the new headmistress. I will also continue teaching Transfiguration. The other professors remain the same, but I would like you all to welcome Hestia Jones, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Everyone applauds. I recognize Hestia Jones; she's a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Good. She'll know how to teach the class well.

There's no Sorting this year because everyone is retaking their last term. It makes sense; with the Carrows in charge and the ridiculous amount of stress, nobody had really learned anything. Hermione and I have the same three classes together: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Charms. Her workload is going to be crazy, as usual, plus she's been made Head Girl. Malfoy is Head Boy, but I don't think he's going to abuse his power like he did during his Prefect days. Because Ron isn't coming back this term, Professor McGonagall decides that I'll take his Prefect position, which I actually don't mind. That will be more time with Hermione.

"I knew she was going to choose you," Hermione says, smiling as we walk to the dormitories. "Congratulations."

"Gran'll be proud, I expect," I reply. "I hope we won't be too busy."

She reads my mind. "Don't worry. We'll still spend loads of time together."

Good.

* * *

When Hermione comes down to breakfast, she looks like she hasn't slept. She pushes my worries away, though. First day of school nervousness. I can understand that, but something is off. I just don't know what it is.

Classes aren't bad. I like the new DADA professor; she's going to teach us a lot. We're still doing nonverbal spells in all our classes, though, which Hermione has mastered and I'm still struggling with. She promises to help me practice.

Malfoy has more classes with Hermione than I do because he's taking Transfiguration and Potions too, and she says people are giving him hell for his Death Eater father and fighting on the wrong side, even though he did end up on our side. Hermione's standing up for him, though, and they'll listen to her because she and I are currently the most popular people at school. It's really weird; people I don't even know are asking us about Harry and the Battle of Hogwarts and telling us how brave and awesome we are. I even have girls I've never met asking me to go to Hogsmeade with them and telling me how handsome I am. Hermione and Ginny think it's hilarious, but I'm not used to that kind of attention. I also don't really return their feelings.

Within a week, we fall into a pattern. After classes, we spent a few hours in the library, studying together. The course load is still insane and our common rooms are always packed. It's usually Hermione, Luna, Malfoy, and me. Ginny is busy with her new job of being Captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team, so she doesn't join us very often. She and Hermione have always been close, but I have a feeling she doesn't want to hang out with Luna and me much. And she hates Malfoy. Luna actually has other friends now too, mostly from the DA, and Malfoy is doing extra work for Professor Slughorn, so they don't join us as often either by the end of the first month. So that leaves Hermione and me. We have classes together, go to Hogsmeade together on the weekends, and spend most of our free time together.

That's actually how I notice that something is seriously wrong with Hermione. She's exhausted all the time, but I don't believe her when she says she's just studying too much. I've seen her exhausted from studying too much. This is different.

I talk to Malfoy, Luna, and Ginny, but Hermione fed them the same excuse. Lavender Brown, who shares a dormitory with Hermione, tells me privately that Hermione woke everyone up the first night of the term screaming from a nightmare. She hasn't done so since, but Parvati Patil, who also shares their dorm, has seen Hermione shoot up in bed on several nights, her mouth opened, but no sound coming out. Lavender thinks she cast a spell on them so they can't hear her.

Nightmares. That would explain the exhaustion. But nightmares about what?

* * *

One day, Hermione is absent from Herbology. Professor Sprout asks if I've seen her, and I have to shake my head. She had Transfiguration first today, so I hadn't seen her since breakfast. She had been extra pale this morning, so I had actually hoped she would just skip her classes and sleep all day.

Then Professor McGonagall comes into the room, worry etched all over her face. "Pomona, could I borrow Neville Longbottom, please?"

Professor Sprout looks surprised, but agrees. It won't be hard for me to catch up with the lesson. "What's going on?" I ask.

But she doesn't respond, just ushers me into her office. I don't think she's ready to use Professor Dumbledore's old office yet. _Malfoy_ is waiting there, pacing back and forth. "What are you doing here?" I ask.

The worry on his face matches Professor McGonagall's. Before he can answer, she tells us both to sit down. "Do either of you know if Hermione Granger has been ill recently? Or under some kind of stress?"

"What happened?" I ask. She looks too serious for my comfort.

Professor McGonagall sighs. "So that's a yes. Hermione collapsed in Transfiguration this morning. Madam Pomfrey has her in the hospital wing now and has given a preliminary diagnosis of extreme exhaustion. She's conscious, but not talking. She says she's just been studying too hard. I don't believe her."

I sigh heavily, burying my head in my hands. Malfoy sighs too. "She's been telling me the same thing. Neville spends more time with her than I do. He would know."

"She's been telling me the same thing," I reply. "But I got some information from her roommates." I repeat what Lavender had told me.

Professor McGonagall taps the tips of her fingers together. "That makes far more sense than her studying too much." She pauses and her next words surprise me. "Has she spoken to either of you about her experiences during the war? Before the Battle at Hogwarts, I mean?"

We both shake our heads, but Malfoy speaks. "I witnessed part of it." And he briefly details what happened at his home.

Professor McGonagall looks pained when he finishes. "If the rest of her experiences were anywhere near as traumatic as that, I'm not surprised she's having nightmares."

"Can we see her?" I ask.

She agrees and we head up to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey puts her finger to her lips when we walk in. "I've administered a Sleeping Draught. It should help."

Professor McGonagall relays the information she learned from us while I gaze down at Hermione's face. She scarily pale, like death, and far too still. But if sleep will help her, I'm okay with this. Madam Pomfrey is going to keep her in the Hospital Wing for the next two days to make sure the extended sleep deprivation hasn't harmed her. It's the weekend, so she won't miss class.

Speaking of class..."I'll write you both excuses for absence," Professor McGonagall says. "I'm sure Hagrid and Professor Slughorn will understand."

"You're going to have to assure Hagrid that she's all right," I reply.

She nods. "I will."

Madam Pomfrey shoos us out, promising we can visit Hermione later. Professor McGonagall pulls me aside before I go to my next class. "When Hermione gets out of the Hospital Wing, I want you to try to coax her to talk about the war. It might help alleviate her nightmares."

That might be easier said than done. "I'll try."

* * *

Madam Pomfrey lets Hermione leave the Hospital Wing Sunday in time for dinner. She looks a lot better, but I can tell she's still not herself. Her appetite is healthy, though, and we go to the library afterward.

"I heard about your nightmares," I say as we settle into our usual corner. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She sighs. "I figured they said something. I didn't want you to worry."

"And you think you looking like you're going to pass out from exhaustion didn't make me worry?"

"I'm sorry."

I soften my tone. "Are the nightmares about the war?"

She nods.

"Can we talk about it? It doesn't have to be everything all at once but it might help."

She's quiet for a moment, wrapping a curl around her finger. "Okay. We can try."

And we do. She doesn't tell me much the first night, just about modifying her parents' memories and all the other preparations she had made so she, Harry, and Ron could leave at a moment's notice. It isn't much, but it's the beginning of the story. We talk every night and she fills me in more and more. I tell her about what happened at Hogwarts as well; it's only fair. I start to understand why she's having nightmares too. They almost died so many times.

It's slow progress and she seems to be getting better, but the day after Hermione told me in great detail the events at Malfoy Manor, she's pale. I think we went too far. Her hands shake as she tries to cut open the pods we're using, which is dangerous. If they explode, she'll be badly burned. She finally puts her knife down and takes several deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

We both have a free period after class, and Professor Sprout isn't teaching until later, so she allows us to stay late. I stand behind Hermione and hold onto her hands with mine, trying to stop the shaking. She relaxes slightly and I help her cut the pods carefully, releasing the poison inside slowly. Someone had questioned why we were working with something so dangerous, but apparently the poison is really useful for a certain type of medicine.

I hold her vial while she slowly squeezes the poison into it, so close that her hair is tickling my face. The lilac scent is intoxicating, but I need to focus. Neither of us need to go to the hospital wing.

Professor Sprout smiles at us when we bring the vials to her. "Thank you, Miss Granger. How are you feeling?"

She shrugs. "Good and bad days. More good, though. Thanks for asking."

"Of course. See you tomorrow."

Hermione gives me a quick hug before she goes to Arithmancy. "Thanks for your help."

"After all those days you got me through Potions?" I reply. "It's my pleasure."

She laughs and I watch her as she walks down the hallway. Dean, who's just come out of his own class, stops next to me. "You've got it bad, mate."


	7. Back at Hogwarts Part 2

By the time the holidays roll around, Hermione seems to be getting back to her old self. When we get back to Hogwarts after the holidays, she's definitely back to normal. She's creating guides for studying for finals even though we still have several months left. We take N.E.W.T.s this year, though, and she wants to be prepared.

So Malfoy, Hermione, and I spend many evenings together studying. When he isn't with us, I find myself opening up more. I tell Hermione about my parents, my gran, and how tough it was being the son of the Aurors who were tortured to insanity. I've never told anyone about that before, but she's a good listener.

She tells me about _her_ parents, how difficult it was for them having a child who was different, and how frustrating it was knowing she was different. We also talk about our years at Hogwarts. I tell her how grateful I am that she always helped me and stuck up for me; she tells me how grateful she is that I was always there for her, especially during those times when Ron and Harry weren't speaking to her. Our conversations flow so easily. We never run out of things to talk about.

One day we're joking about the admirers I still have hanging around before we separate to go to our classes. She tells me that Parvati likes me, but I brush it off. Nobody is serious about me like that.

"Hi, Neville," Parvati says when I walk into Care of Magical Creatures.

I'm momentarily surprised; we talk sometimes at dinner and she had been part of DA, but I don't know her that well. "Hey," I reply.

"Are you doing anything this Sunday?"

"Ummm...not really. Probably going to Hogsmeade."

She ducks her head, looking shy. "Do you want to go together?"

"Uh sure."

"Awesome!" She walks away and starts whispering frantically with Lavender.

"That was so weird," I say to Dean, who's standing next to me.

"You do realize what Sunday is, right?" he replies.

I look blankly back at him. "No..."

"Valentine's Day."

Bugger. I had completely forgotten. Dean's laughing. "Why did you say yes if you didn't want to go out?"

"I didn't want to be mean."

"You may as well go. Who knows, it could be fun. I mean, she _is_ good looking."

I hesitate. "She is, but I always go to Hogsmeade with Hermione."

"She's going with Malfoy," he replies. "I overheard him ask her the other day."

What?! _Malfoy!_ Why him? "She _likes _him?"

Dean shrugs. "How would I know? She's _your_ best friend."

So I bring it up casually while we're studying. "I heard you're going out with Malfoy for Valentine's Day."

She doesn't react. "Yeah, he asked me the other day."

I swallow hard. "Do you, you know, like him like that?"

"He's attractive and intelligent. I haven't really given it much thought."

That doesn't make me feel better. "So why are you going with him then?"

She shrugs. "Why not? Neither of us are dating anybody right now."

"Parvati and I are going out for Valentine's Day," I blurt out.

She finally looks up at me, surprise clear on her face. "Really?"

"Yes."

"She's liked you for a while now. Since last term, I think."

That's news to me. "Really?"

She nods. "You like her?"

"She's good looking. I don't know her all that well, though. I guess we can change that."

Hermione goes back to her book, bright red spots appearing on her cheeks. "Well I hope you have fun."

We work in silence, the quietest it's been all term. I don't like it.

* * *

Parvati is extra flirty towards me in the days leading up to Valentine's Day. It's really hard not to reciprocate; I've never been in this situation before. She's touchy feely too, constantly grabbing my hand or hugging me, reminding me unpleasantly of Ron and Lavender. They're dating again, according to Parvati. He and Hermione had dated briefly over the summer, but Ron said Hermione was "too rigid." The thought of them kissing, let alone anything else, makes me sick to my stomach.

Speaking of Hermione, I haven't seen her outside of classes since our conversation the day Parvati asked me out. She's not in the library, which is weird. I don't see her in the Common Room either. I tell myself she's just found a quiet place to do schoolwork alone, but Malfoy's missing too. My mind races with thoughts of them together, but I bang my hand against my head. "No. Stop."

But it doesn't stop them from haunting my dreams. I'm happy when I can finally go into Hogsmeade. Parvati holds my hand the entire time, chattering away in my ear. I respond when I can, but it's a lot of her telling me how brave and wonderful I am. We get a table at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, her choice. It's_ the _place to go for Valentine's Day: pink walls, frilly decorations, lace napkins, china sugar bowls, and golden cherubs that occasionally throw pink confetti on the couples beneath them. It makes me nauseous, but Parvati seems to love it.

Then I notice Hermione and Malfoy sitting a few tables away, their heads bent close, their hands intertwined. My chest closes up and I feel a full throbbing start. Bloody hell that hurts. I try to focus back on Parvati, who's talking about how adorable the cherubs are. I agree mindlessly, forcing myself not to look in Hermione's direction.

She asks me dozens of questions about the Battle at Hogwarts and whether I was scared and goes on once again about how brave I am. We talk about classes, about our post-Hogwarts plans. I can't stop glancing over at Hermione.

Parvati finally notices. "You really like her, don't you?"

"Yes," I say without thinking. Then I snap to attention, realizing my mistake. "Parvati, I'm sorry."

Instead of being upset, she sort of smiles. "I have a confession to make. The main reason I asked you here today was to make Seamus jealous."

I'm dumbfounded. I don't even know what to say to that.

She takes my lack of response poorly. "I'm sorry! I just figured since you're head over heels for Hermione Granger and she hasn't noticed it yet, maybe you would be able to make _her _jealous while I'm making Seamus jealous!"

That is some of the strangest logic I've ever heard. Finally I speak up. "Parvati, it's fine, I promise. Did it work?"

She grins. "I think so."

Well at least that worked out. When we get back to Hogwarts, I head towards the Common Room. Just as I turn the corner, I see Malfoy lean in to _kiss_ Hermione. The wave of nausea that hits me is overwhelming, so I rush to the toilets. Nothing comes up, though. Of all the people she could fall for, it has to be the one I can't compete with.

* * *

"So how was your date?" Dean asks me the next morning while we're dressing.

I groan-I got next to no sleep last night-but I fill him in. He looks as confused as I felt. "I will never understand women."

"I don't mind," Seamus says, rolling out of bed. "I'm getting some tonight."

Fantastic. We walk out into the Common Room together and I grimace as he pulls Parvati in for a long, sloppy snog. Gross. Dean laughs, whacking him on the back of his head. "Get a room, mate."

"That's later," he replies, briefly coming up for air.

"So what else happened?" Dean asks as we walk down to breakfast. "You were thrashing about in your sleep last night. Knocked my clock onto my head."

"Sorry," I reply, then quietly tell him about Hermione and Malfoy.

He stares at me in obvious disbelief when I'm finished. "There's no way that's getting serious. No bloody way."

"I hope not." I don't know if it's lack of sleep or something else, but I feel like crying.

I ignore the disgusting display of Seamus and Parvati-they're forced to calm down when Ginny threatens to hex both of them-and try to eat as much as I can. I have DADA first and Hermione is my partner for practicing spells. Hopefully I'll be able to look at her without seeing her snogging Malfoy.

I can't. We're practicing nonverbal Disarming spells again, something all of us, except Hermione of course, have loads of trouble with. She gets me every time, but all I manage to do is set my robes on fire, knock Hermione's books off the desk, and Disarm myself. How I managed the last one still baffles me. I'm happy when class is over.

I rush out of the classroom to find a spot to enjoy my free period. Some days I hate that we rotate class times every day, other days I love it. Today I love it.

But Hermione catches up with me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I say, trying not to look her in the eye. "Shouldn't you be with Malfoy?"

I hear her sigh and feel her take my arm, forcibly pushing me out of the castle. "Come on. Let's go to the tree."

We make our way to the beech tree overlooking the Black Lake. Hermione likes doing her homework out here when it's warm, and today is unseasonably warm for February.

"Is this about Parvati?" she asks when we sit down. "I heard what happened yesterday."

I start to argue, but it's easier to just let her think that. "Yeah, kinda. I don't like her like that, but being used like that kinda hurts."

"I know. I said something to her about it. She told me she apologized."

"She did. And I'm fine. Seamus kept me up talking in his sleep."

Hermione nods, but I'm not sure she believes me.

"I don't think Malfoy is the right guy for you," I say without thinking.

She actually looks slightly amused. "Oh really? Who said I'm dating Draco?"

"I saw you at Madam Puddifoot's yesterday. And snogging." Merlin, that hurt to say.

"Ah. That. Did you also overhear Draco and me decide that kissing each other felt weird and we should just be friends?"

Hope surges up. "Really?"

She nods again. "It just felt...wrong. I can't explain why."

That makes me feel significantly better. Before I can respond, Hermione suggests practicing what we learned in DADA today. So we do, and I manage to Disarm her twice before our next class. Finally.

* * *

And things go back to normal once again. I had worried that things would be awkward between Malfoy and Hermione while we're all studying for our N.E.W.T.s, but it's not. You would have never known they attempted to date.

We talk about our future plans during one of our breaks, and Malfoy admits that he has no idea what to do. "I mean, who would want to hire a former Death Eater?"

He has a point, though I don't know how many people know he was a Death Eater. When the Aurors were rounding up the Death Eaters escaping from the Battle of Hogwarts, the Malfoys hadn't been arrested because they switched allegiance at the last minute. I still firmly believe Lucius should have gone to Azkaban. So does his son, surprisingly.

Hermione and I have the same aspirations: going through Auror training and eventually getting jobs at Hogwarts. She wants to teach Transfiguration or Charms; I want to teach Herbology. Kingsley Shacklebolt really wants Hermione to start Auror training as soon as possible. She's what he calls "a rare catch." I should feel jealous, but I don't. She deserves it.

Hermione is frantic about the end of the term, something I dealt with in our O.W.L. year. Malfoy is new to this, though, and not quite sure how to calm her down. Watching the trial and error is funnier than it should be. We have to laugh. Otherwise we would be crying from stress.

Hermione squeezes both our hands on the morning when the exams start. "Good luck."

Once I get through my first exam, I'm so happy I only have four total. I don't know how Hermione is going to get through seven. Most of us are too tired to eat, let alone talk, by the end of the day, but Hermione does her usual paranoid let-me-go-over-every-question-I-wasn't-sure-of-and-worry-about-it. After twenty minutes, Ginny finally tells her to shut up and calm down.

We celebrate the end of exams by drinking smuggled in Firewhiskey and partying in our Common Room. Hermione doesn't drink, but I try a couple sips, which I immediately regret. It's disgusting. Not as disgusting as Seamus and Parvati, though, who are actually making Ron and Lavender's escapades look tame. So gross. I'll be happy to have my own room and privacy again.


	8. Auror Training

Hermione and I officially submit our Auror applications the day we receive our N.E.W.T. grades. I have Outstandings in Herbology, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts and an Exceeds Expectations in Care of Magical Creatures, the best grades I've ever gotten. Even so, I hate not having N.E.W.T.s in Transfiguration and Potions. I have top grades in my other Auror prerequisites, but I'm worried it won't be enough. Especially because I only have four N.E.W.T.s, not five.

Hermione tells me not to worry, that Kingsley Shacklebolt knew about my situation before the term even started and didn't care. That's easy for her to say; she earned Outstandings on every single one of her N.E. . That hasn't been done since the days of Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore. And, actually, it probably won't be done again for a long time.

It also hits me that Malfoy could have applied to be an Auror because he got three Outstandings and two Exceeds Expectations on his N.E.W.T.s, but I doubt he would pass the background check. I don't think the Auror office wants former Death Eaters either.

We receive notice that our applications have been received and we've passed the background checks about halfway through the summer. Training starts at the end of August, so that gives us some time to pack and get our affairs in order. We won't be coming home until training is completely finished in three years. Intense, I know.

"Following in your parents' footsteps," Gran says, nodding approvingly as she reads my information packet. "Good boy."

I don't respond; I'm headfirst in a pile of mixed up dirty and clean laundry, trying to sort it. Finally I just decide to wash it all.

"At least you'll have Hermione Granger with you. Less chance of you getting homesick."

Merlin, my room is a mess. I need to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of. I can't stand this clutter anymore.

"You didn't tell her how you feel, did you?"

"No," I say, more forcefully than necessary, throwing my Hogwarts textbooks in a pile. Hermione would be so mad if she saw that.

"Why not?"

I grab my Care of Magical Creatures book and quickly stroke the spine to make it stop biting, getting a nasty cut on my thumb in the process. I slam the book shut and lock it, then grab a random t-shirt to wrap around my thumb. "I don't want to discuss this right now."

If she's surprised by my anger, she doesn't show it. "I'll go start dinner."

I keep pressure on my thumb, cursing Hagrid for that stupid biting book, Professor McGonagall for not letting me take Transfiguration, Professor Slughorn for not letting me take Potions, and Hermione and Malfoy for being perfect students. How in Merlin's name am I going to get through Auror training without those classes?

* * *

"For the last time, Neville, Mr. Shacklebolt said that _anyone_ who participated in the Battle of Hogwarts was allowed to begin Auror training if they were interested, whether they had their N.E.W.T.s or not," Hermione says, rather impatiently, as we enter the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic.

"But-"

She cuts me off. "No buts." Then she takes on her know-it-all voice. "'Fighting and surviving in such a battle and not changing sides against such odds more than satisfies character and skill requirements.' You proved than more than anyone else."

I remember when he said that. So I just nod and walk with her down to level two, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where the Auror headquarters is. Kingsley Shacklebolt greets us warmly and introduces us to Gawain Robards, the head of the Auror Office, and John Savage, a former Auror. They'll be training us.

"You're the first ones here," Shacklebolt says. "We're expecting two more."

"Only two?" Hermione says, sounding surprised.

"Luck of the draw. Last year we accepted eight. It's better than nothing."

Once the other two applicants, Belby and Carter, arrive, Shacklebolt shows us the Auror headquarters. It's a series of open cubicles, one for each Auror, with pictures of known Dark wizards, maps, clippings from _The Daily Prophet_, and the like. In the back of the room is a large door that opens to a huge room that's separated into four parts: one looks like a classroom, two appear to be a dueling arenas, and one looks like storage. I see Harry, Ron, and about six others in one of the dueling arenas.

"You can see them, but they can't see you," Shacklebolt says. "I'll leave you in the capable hands of these men now."

Robards goes to the dueling arena and Savage directs us to the classroom. "The first part of training is getting you familiar with you're getting involved in. Aurors are trained to investigate crimes related to the Dark Arts and apprehend or detain dark witches and wizards. A dark witch or wizard primarily studies and practices Dark Arts, which include, but are not limited to, using Unforgivable Curses, creating and brewing Dark potions, using Dark objects, animating Inferi, and attracting Dark creatures to make huge armies and commanding them to attack their enemies."

He goes on to explain the Unforgivable Curses in more detail, and I try to stay calm. Hermione and I can both explain how horrible the Cruciatus Curse is. I'm happy when he moves on to discussing the different types of Dark potions, Dark objects, and Dark creatures, as well as explaining what exactly Inferi are.

We touch on the most famous dark witches and wizards in history later in the week: Herpo the Foul, Morgan le Fay, Emeric the Evil, Gellbert Grindelwald, and Voldemort-I'm more comfortable using his name now finally-as well as the Death Eaters. We had talked about the first three in History of Magic, but Savage uses what they're famous for to explain things in more detail.

For example, Herpo the Foul was the first wizard to ever discover that hatching a chicken egg under a toad creates a basilisk, so, using his ability to speak Parseltongue, he bred them. Why you would _want_ to breed snakes I don't understand. He was also the first to create a Horcrux, a topic that Savage invites Hermione to help him talk about because she had firsthand experience with the ones Voldemort had created.

Emeric the Evil leads to a discussion on the Elder Wand and Gellbert Grindelwald leads to a discussion of the importance of the International Statute of Secrecy. We talk about the current set of Death Eaters, most of whom are either dead or in Azkaban, but some are still on the run. Yaxley still being out there is especially bad because he wasn't caught after the First Wizarding War and helped kidnap Ollivander, the wand maker; placed Pius Thicknesse, who was Minister of Magic at the time, under the Impervius Curse; and played a huge role in the Muggleborn Registration Commission during the Second Wizarding War.

By the end of all the history talk, my head is swimming like it used to do during History of Magic. Hermione, of course, finds it endlessly fascinating. She chatters about how interesting the Dark potions are as we make our way to our dorms. There are separate ones for males and females, like at Hogwarts, and, including Hermione, we only have three females in training right now. The only people I know outside of Hermione and the two people in my year are Harry and Ron. They agree with me, that the history was the worst part. They promise that things get loads more interesting, though.

* * *

They're right; training _does_ get more interesting. So much so that it's easy to lose track of how long we've been here. Even though we proved our character and skill during the Battle at Hogwarts, we still have more tests to find exactly where our areas of expertise are and to ensure that we can react appropriately under pressure. We train extensively in advanced magical combat, learning more charms than we had at Hogwarts. We even learn how to perform Unforgivable Curses, but we don't practice them. Aurors had been given permission to use them on suspected Death Eaters and criminals during the First Wizarding War, but Shacklebolt prefers that they continue to be banned.

Then we move on to "Methods of Criminal Investigation." We learn how to process crime scenes and collect evidence, as well as how to apprehend and interrogate suspects. We practice how to conceal and disguise ourselves, which would be a lot easier if we were Metamorphmagi like Tonks, who had seemed to have a different hair color every time I saw her. We also practice stealth and tracking, which is surprisingly easy for me. But my tendency for clumsiness had worn off during my later years at Hogwarts.

We also have "Poisons and Antidotes," which reminds me way too much of Potions. I'm nervous as anything during that portion of training, but Hermione and I practice together often, like old times. So I get through it. She's top of the class in everything, just like at Hogwarts.

Despite there only being four of us, she and I are rarely paired up during combat. At first I get Belby and she gets Carter, then it switches. I like Belby better because I can usually defeat him, but Carter and I are on the same level. Belby is also more pleasant to be around; Carter has a tendency to be an arrogant prat. He doesn't like Hermione because she usually outperforms him. I'm happy when we eventually duel against the people in the year above us. Hermione and I rarely get paired up with Harry and Ron, which is to be expected, but the variety of other combat styles is fun. Before we finish training, we also get to duel the people in the year below us. There are four of them as well.

Every year, we've had exams at the end to test what we've learned. The last year, the final is comprehensive. The four of us are frantic, though Carter keeps bragging that _of course_ he'll have top marks so _he_ doesn't _need_ to study. Belby eventually threatens to hex him, sounding eerily similar to Ginny. I appreciate the silence, though.

As it turns out, we were frantic for nothing. We all pass.


	9. Weddings and Unexpected Opportunities

"We need to celebrate," I say to Hermione as we exit the Ministry of Magic.

"Let's go to Hogsmeade," she replies. "We can get lunch and stop by Fred and George's shop."

So we do. The shop is packed when we walk in, but Hermione spots Fred and George standing with Ginny and Harry off to the side. Fred grins when he sees us, ruffling Hermione's hair. "Congrats, new Aurors!"

She looks at Harry, who shrugs. "I told them."

"Guess what you missed while you were gone," Ginny says.

"What?" I start to ask, but Hermione cuts me off, grabbing Ginny's hand. "You got engaged! Oh congratulations, Gin!"

I shake Harry's hand while Ginny and Hermione are hugging and squealing. "Congrats. You got a good one."

He barely has a chance to reply before being engulfed in a Hermione hug. "Oh Harry, I'm so happy for you!"

"Ron got married too," Ginny says, making a face. "He and Lavender eloped right after he finished Auror training."

Merlin everyone's getting married. George and Angelina had eloped right after the war, to the annoyance of Mrs. Weasley, so I look at Fred. "Who's your lucky lady?"

He laughs. "I'm enjoying the single life right now."

Harry and Ginny join us at The Three Broomsticks for butterbeer and to catch up. Harry tells us that they caught Yaxley and sent him to Azkaban and are on the trail of a few more Death Eaters. Ginny reveals that she's been playing professional Quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies for the past few years.

"They recruited me right after your last year at Hogwarts," she says as we stare at her with our mouths open. "Mum was furious that I skipped my last year, but school never really was my thing."

I recover first. "Wow. That's incredible."

"I plan to retire at the end of next year. I don't like the man who took over the team at all. _The Daily Prophet_ has already agreed to hire me as a Quidditch correspondent."

"Good for you, Gin, really," Hermione says. "I know you've always wanted to play professionally."

We switch topics and Harry and Ginny fill us in on all the other stuff we've missed. Hermione and I talk about Auror training and how excited we are to start working. We both still want to teach, but at least we'll be making a difference either way. That's all Hermione wants: to help people.

We leave with invitations to Harry and Ginny's wedding and our heads swirling with information. Hermione has rented a room in the flat above Fred and George's shop-they had decided that well before she started training apparently-at what she calls "the best price in town." I'm not exactly happy that she and Fred will be living together, even though they have separate bedrooms. Losing her to Fred would be almost as bad as losing her to Malfoy.

* * *

Hermione agrees to be my date for Harry and Ginny's wedding. It's going to be really small, just the Weasley family, Hermione, Luna, and me. Harry and Ginny are in the spotlight enough as it is; they don't want it on their wedding day.

My jaw drops when I see Hermione; she's wearing this dark red dress and it's hugging her in all the right places. I had no idea she had a body that nice. "You look incredible."

She grins. "Thanks. You clean up well yourself."

We're able to catch up with Luna after the ceremony. She's a wizarding naturalist now and actually just got home from an expedition. She's rarely around here these days. Her date is a wizarding naturalist as well, and just as out there as she is.

"It's a perfect match," I say, laughing as we go over to congratulate Ginny and Harry. "They're both loony."

Hermione swats my arm, but she's laughing too. "Neville!"

Despite the relatively small group, it's a very loud and cheerful reception. Fred, who, surprisingly, hadn't brought a date, steals Hermione for a few dances. They look great; they move like they've been doing it for years. I wish I could dance like that. They certainly look better than Ron and Lavender, who have got to be the worst dancers ever. She's going to have really sore feet later.

I'm so busy mentally laughing at them that I jump when Hermione touches my shoulder. "Come on. Let's dance."

A slow song is playing, so I take her in my arms, holding her at what I gauge is a respectful distance. She smiles as we dance. "You've gotten better."

My face flushes as I remember the horror that was the Yule Ball. I had stepped on poor Ginny's feet so many times and then stepped on Hermione's as well, until she started guiding me.

I feel her move a little closer, putting her lips to my ear. "Don't worry. I always thought you being awkward was cute."

I shiver as her breath hits my ear, my face flushing even redder. I may have gained confidence in doing magic and dueling and whatnot, but girls and romance are still painful and terrifying.

The song ends and Hermione steps back. If she's noticed my red face, and I don't know how she couldn't, she doesn't mention it. She merely says, "I'm hot. Let's get a drink."

I follow her, wanting to put a hand on her waist like I've seen Harry, Ron, and George do with their wives, but Hermione isn't my wife. She isn't even my girlfriend. I sigh. I'm so lost.

Hermione hands me a cup, her fingers brushing mine, and I almost drop it. My hand is shaking so badly. "Are you all right?" she asks, concerned.

"Fine," I reply quickly. "Just a random tremor."

She obviously doesn't believe me-I've never been able to lie to her-but she doesn't question it. We dance every dance together for the rest of the evening, and I'm definitely more comfortable when it's over.

Hermione embraces me when the reception ends, kissing me lightly on the cheek. "I had a lovely time. I'm glad we came together."

All the blood has rushed to my face and I'm sure I look ridiculous, but I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face. "Me too," I manage.

As I watch her Disapparate with Fred all I want to do is pull her back and kiss her properly. I missed my chance.

Gran is still awake when I arrive home and wants details about the wedding. "Did you tell her how you feel yet?"

"No," I reply, sitting heavily on a chair.

She shakes her head. "I don't understand it. You're a war hero and an Auror, but you can't tell a woman you love her."

I don't understand it either, Gran. I really don't.

* * *

"We've been trying to track down the Malfoy family for five months," Robards says in our morning meeting. "Finally got a location on the son, Draco. Apparently he's been living abroad. Four people went over to his residence. Two should be escorting him back as we speak and the other two are staying to see if they can dig up any correspondence between him and his parents."

"What do you want them for?" Belby asks. "I thought they switched allegiance during the war."

"The son did. We have several eyewitness accounts of him defending Hogwarts students and killing Fenrir Greyback. The parents apparently just stood to the side and watched the fray. We have a long list of atrocities the father, Lucius, committed. His wife, Narcissa, wasn't a Death Eater. Son was, but never actually committed a crime."

We nod.

"We're hoping the son can give us the location of his parents. In turn, we're hoping the father can give us the location of the four remaining Death Eaters."

I look down at the list of known Death Eaters on the table, page one of an extremely long folder of crimes committed. There's so much information on each individual that they all have separate folders with their names on them. Robards had proudly placed a check next to two more names this morning; some of our people had found them dead in their homes over the weekend. We had separate markings for deceased, imprisoned, and at large. A surprisingly large number of them had died during the war.

Robards looks at the former Hogwarts students in our group. "Any of you know Draco Malfoy?"

"We all _know_ him," Ron says, his obvious hatred spilling over. "We aren't _friends_ with him."

"He and I became friends after the war," Hermione says quietly. "If he's going to tell the truth to anyone, it will probably be me."

"You're _friends_ with him?!" Ron's face is as red as his hair. "Why?"

"He saved my life." She turns to Robards. "As I said, he and I became friends during my last year at Hogwarts. We lost touch when I went to Auror training."

"You and Carter can interview him then. See if he'll open up without extra encouragement." He turns to the rest of us. "He's got a wife, Astoria. Maiden name Greengrass. They're bringing her in too. Deverill take her. She might be more comfortable talking to a woman. Longbottom, Weasley, and Belby, go to Malfoy Manor and go over it again. See if we missed anything. Potter, I want you overseeing the interview with Malfoy with me. I want a second opinion."

We separate. Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass. I knew her older sister, Daphne, who had been in our year, but in Slytherin. She had been part of that awful Pansy Parkinson's group. Astoria was two years younger, also a Slytherin, but really nice.

"I haven't been here since the war," Ron says, shuddering slightly as he looks around when we enter Malfoy Manor. "Hermione got tortured in this room."

Belby looks up sharply. "Tortured?"

He nods. "By Bellatrix Lestrange. She wanted information, but Hermione just lied the whole time, refusing to tell her what she wanted."

"Wow. I had no idea."

We cover the first floor, then go upstairs. It easier to stay together, in case the Malfoys are here. We look at every possible hiding spot, but there's nothing here. They haven't been here in a long time.

Suddenly, Ron snaps his fingers. "The cellar. That's where they kept us prisoner when they captured us."

He leads us there, opening the door carefully. There's a body on the floor, a woman with pale blonde hair. I kneel down for a closer look. "It's Narcissa Malfoy."

"Is she dead?" Belby asks.

I feel for a pulse, but there's nothing. Her skin is ice cold. "Yes."

They've just finished interviewing Malfoy by the time we finish processing the scene and bring Narcissa's body back with us. Robards recognizes the cause of death immediately: The Killing Curse.

"Think it was her husband?" Carter asks.

"Possibly." He turns to Hermione. "I'll let you break the news. His wife should be with him. Keep an eye on his reaction, just in case."

When she leaves, we bring each other up to speed. Malfoy has no idea where his parents are; he hasn't had contact with them since the war. He's been living abroad with Astoria since that time, working for her father. He thinks he knows where they could be, though. He knows the Death Eater hiding places, even ones we don't know about.

"How did he take it?" Robards asks when Hermione rejoins us.

"He's in shock. He thinks his father did it. Deverill is still with them." She places a piece of parchment on the table. "He gave me a list of Dark artifacts that should have been in the cellar. His father hid them there for when the Ministry raided the house."

We look at it together. Several cursed books, a Hand of Glory, a blood quill, a music box that puts the listener to sleep, a silver biting box filled with a poison that will slowly and painfully kill anyone who inhales it, and a set of purple robes that will strangle the wearer.

"That's mad," Ron finally says. "None of that was in the cellar. We checked it thoroughly."

"Our new number one and two priorities are locating Lucius Malfoy and locating the Dark artifacts," Robards says grimly. "Then we'll return our attention to the other Death Eaters."

A music box that puts the listener to sleep, a silver biting box filled with a poison that will slowly and painfully kill anyone who inhales it, and a set of purple robes that will strangle the wearer. Yeah, I want to focus on finding Lucius Malfoy first too.

* * *

Everyone is involved in raiding the locations Draco Malfoy had given us. Luck is on our side. Not only do we find Lucius Malfoy, we find two of our missing Death Eaters. Hermione, Belby, and I get first crack at them because we found them, which is nerve wrecking. We separate them and let them sit while we wait for a second team. Once they arrive, we split into teams of two for interrogation. Hermione and I get Malfoy.

"Look what we have here," Malfoy says, smirking. "I should have known they'd let filth into the Ministry as soon as the Dark Lord fell." He looks at Hermione. "My blood traitor son should have let you die."

"Blood traitor?" she replies, not reacting to his words. "You've disowned your son?"

"Of course." He waves his hand like he's shooing away a bug. "He turned against the Dark Lord. He saved a Mudblood. He killed one of our own, an important Death Eater."

"Where's your wife?" I ask.

For the first time, his arrogance falters. "I don't know. She left."

He's lying and I notice he has the same tell his son does: his nostrils flare ever so slightly. I'm glad Hermione told me about that. So we press him. She knows the names of all the people who knew about his cellar because only those closest to Voldemort were at Malfoy Manor and none of them are still alive. Belby had also found Narcissa's wand in the room he was staying in.

Even without a confession, we have past crimes, his wife's wand, and possession of all those Dark artifacts. He's going to Azkaban.

His Death Eater friends are less tight-lipped. They're under the impression that giving up the locations of the last two Death Eaters will keep them out of Azkaban, something that happened during the First Wizarding War. They aren't going to be that lucky this time.

I'm exhausted by the time I get home and all I want to do is go to bed. But an owl I don't recognize taps at my window. My curiosity outweighs my exhaustion, so I unroll the parchment, wondering who the sender could be.

_Dear Mr. Longbottom,_

_ I hope you're well. Congratulations on your successful completion of your Auror training. The Auror office is gaining a wonderful, talented person._

_ Before you left Hogwarts, we had a long conversation about the possibility of you becoming a professor here one day. As you know, I'm getting up in years now, and teaching Herbology and running Hufflepuff House, and I would like to pass off both posts to someone younger and equally competent. That's where you come in. I want you to come to Hogwarts and be my teacher's assistant. I'll teach you everything I know about managing a classroom and helping students, as well as running a House. Given your publicity, I'm sure all the students here will be receptive to you. _

_ If you're interested, please send me a reply within the next few weeks. I understand this is a huge decision and you'll need to discuss it with the head of the Auror office, but the sooner you decide, the sooner we can make plans for the upcoming term. I'll be in contact soon. _

_Yours, Pomona Sprout_

I...I'm speechless. Professor Sprout wants _me_ to take over for her. I can't believe this. My dream can finally become reality.


	10. New Beginnings Part 1

I receive another owl less than five minutes later. Apparently Hermione had received a similar letter from Professor McGonagall, wanting to teach her how to take over teaching Transfiguration and being head of Gryffindor House.

"This is so exciting! We need to talk to Mr. Robards first thing tomorrow morning!"

So we do. I had thought he would be upset, but he's actually happy for us. He thinks having Aurors at Hogwarts is a good idea, in the event that something bad happens in the future. Our extensive training will come in handy for dealing with student problems as well.

"One condition," Robards says before we join the others. "You stay here until we apprehend the last two Death Eaters. Then you can go back to Hogwarts."

"Deal," we say together.

So we send affirmative replies to Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall and get to work. The last two Death Eaters have eluded capture before and are apparently very dangerous. We also need to turn the hideout where Lucius was found inside out and find the Dark artifacts. I have a bad feeling they aren't there.

Robards splits us up. Hermione, Belby, and I are sent back to the hideout to look for the artifacts and everyone else is split into two teams to find the Death Eaters. We tear the house apart, but there's nothing here. We tear the grounds apart, looking for any disturbed dirt, rocks out of place, hollow trees, etc., but to no avail.

The others have better luck. The Death Eaters are right where they were supposed to be. Unfortunately, they put up a fight, wounding Deverill and Carter. Nothing serious, though, thankfully.

Robards shakes our hands before we leave. "Good luck. We will probably still consult you about the Dark artifacts."

"Of course," Hermione replies. "We'll help however we can."

We go out to dinner with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Lavender, George, Angelina, and Fred to celebrate our new positions. The twins toast us and our success, so we toast their success. They're actually looking into opening a new location for their shop because they're doing so well. Soon, everyone is toasting everyone else's success and getting more and more ridiculous. I can't stop laughing.

"Ready for our future?" Hermione asks me before she leaves with Fred, reaching out a hand.

I smile, reaching out and holding on tightly. "Yes. I've_ always_ wanted this."

She smiles too. "Me too."

I want to say, "I've always wanted this with you," but there's no way I'm taking the possibility of getting rejected right before we go back to Hogwarts together. I don't want to make things awkward.

* * *

It's a little weird going back to Hogwarts, especially because there are no students here yet. It also doesn't help that the last time I saw the castle, it was covered with dead bodies, broken furniture, and blood.

"Everything is back to normal," Hermione says softly, looking around. Then she grins, raising an arm. "Hello, Sir Nicholas!"

"Hermione Granger!" He tips his hat to her. "I hear you're going to train to be a professor." He nods to me as well. "And you too, Neville Longbottom."

"Yes they are," Professor McGonagall says, coming down the stairs. "Come up to my office. I fill you in on everything you need to know."

She's still in her old office. After four years...

"I'll move to the headmaster's office when I'm no longer teaching Transfiguration," she says, smiling slightly. "Please sit down."

The meeting is long, but informative. There are no changes to the teaching staff-a miracle, that is-and enrollment in the school has stayed the same, despite all the craziness from four years ago. There are more Halfbloods and Muggleborns this year than in years past, so she's hoping the anti-Muggle nonsense will finally be wiped out. Me too.

We're going to assist with all of Professor McGonagall's and Professor Sprout's classes, including learning how to make lesson plans, keep the class engaged in learning, and grade homework. We're also going to learn when it's appropriate to award and dock points, when to give detentions, and how to counsel students who are having problems.

The routine hasn't changed: breakfast at 7:30am; classes start at 9am; four class periods before lunch, two after; then dinner and (expected to be) studying for the evening until it's time to be in the common rooms. I wonder if we'll have any Fred and George Weasleys this year. That could make things interesting.

Hermione has a few questions for Professor McGonagall, of course, then we split up. Hermione stays to discuss the Transfiguration curriculum; I go to find Professor Sprout to discuss Herbology. She's in one of the greenhouses, just where I expected her to be.

"Neville, hello!" she says, pushing her hat back and leaving a smear of dirt on her forehead. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm glad to be here," I reply, then gesture to the pot in front of her. "Are those mandrakes?"

"Yes. I expect you brought earmuffs with you?"

I nod. "And my dragon-hide gloves and all my books."

She beams. "Good. Let me finish here and I'll give you the tour of all the new plants we have this year. Go to greenhouse seven."

"Got it."

Greenhouse seven. That's where some of the most dangerous plants are, including Devil's Snare, Venomous Tentacula, and Snargaluff pods. I walk in, breathing deeply. I always loved the smell of the greenhouses, something many of my friends thought was insane. "It smells like dragon dung!" Ron often said.

Of course it smells like dragon dung. It's fertilizer. My thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Professor Sprout. We spend the rest of the afternoon caring for various plants and going over the schedule for the winter term. She doesn't just want me to watch; she expects me to help, which is fine with me.

Hermione and I get reacquainted with all our old professors during dinner. They all tell us to call them by the first names, but I can't do it. Hermione can't either. They're really excited that we're back.

I can't believe this is really happening.

* * *

We spend the next couple of weeks helping everyone get the castle ready for the upcoming term, as well as helping Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout make final changes to their courses. I haven't seen Hermione this excited since Professor McGonagall told her she was the best student she's ever had. Sure we both liked our Auror jobs, but Hogwarts is where our hearts are.

Speaking of Aurors, we had had a letter from Robards this morning. He said they've recovered the Hand of Glory, one of the cursed books, and the music box that puts the listener to sleep. The other cursed books, the blood quill, the silver biting box, and the purple robes are still missing. I don't know how they're going to find the books and quill. They could be anywhere.

"There they are!" Hermione says, pointing out the window.

I can see the lanterns on the Black Lake and the carriages pulled by thestrals. I'm not bothered by being able to see the thestrals anymore; even Hermione can see them now because of the war. She had called them "scary and beautiful at the same time."

We head down to the Start-of-Term Feast, taking seats between Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick. I look at the line of First Years waiting to be Sorted, remembering how terrified I was back then. Hermione nudges me, nodding towards a girl with pale hair pinned back by a giant sunflower and her wand tucked behind her ear. "We have a new Luna."

I remember how badly people treated Luna for being different, even stealing her shoes at times. "I hope people are nice to her."

"Me too."

Before I can say anything else, Professor McGonagall taps her glass for quiet. It's time for the Sorting to begin. I hear someone booing when the first person is Sorted into Slytherin, something that Professor McGonagall puts a stop to immediately. I see several older students shaking their heads, looking annoyed. I don't look to my right, but I know Hermione is probably doing the same thing. Some things never change.

Professor McGonagall decides to save her speech for after the feast, something I'm grateful for. I'm starving. I notice students pointing at Hermione and me and whispering while we're eating, so I have a feeling some of them recognize us. When Professor McGonagall announces is as new staff, we get a lot of cheers. My face goes red and I don't even have to look at Hermione to know hers does too.

The Prefects lead everyone to their common rooms after the feast and I'm able to hear snippets of conversation. "That's Neville Longbottom! He killed You-Know-Who's snake during the war!"

"Did you see Hermione Granger? She saved _Harry Potter_! More than once!"

The second one makes me laugh. Harry had said during one of his interviews that without Hermione, he would have been dead back in his First Year. He talked about all the times she saved his life.

"They're friends with _Harry Potter_!"

"Look how pretty her hair is. I wish _my _hair curled like that."

"He's _hot!_ I can't wait until Herbology!"

My face is burning after that last one and Hermione is laughing so hard she's holding her side. "I didn't think it was_ that_ funny," I say.

"Sorry," she says, gasping. "Just...the look...on your face...it was funny."

I roll my eyes as we head to our rooms. I overhear a few guys talking about how hot she is as well, which she's either ignoring or completely missing. I feel my face heating up again. I don't like the way they're talking. She's a human being, not an object.

"It's fine," she says quietly.

I guess she did hear them. "No, it's not. They shouldn't be talking like that."

A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. "I thought _I _was supposed to be protective of _you_."

Images of Potions and the DADA Unforgivable Curses classes flash through my mind. "Now it's my turn."

* * *

I'm up far before my alarm the next morning, nervous about my first day. Even though I'm not a professor yet, I'm still expected to teach. Hermione has a Transfiguration book with her at breakfast, preparing for her first class. She's mumbling something about body weight, concentration, wand power, viciousness, and a fifth unknown variable: the Transfiguration formula. I cringe. That was my worst class after Potions.

My first class is Second Years and their first challenge is mandrakes. Professor Sprout tells everyone to make sure their earmuffs are on tightly, but one student still passes out. I can't even get upset with him because I had done the same thing my second year.

I enjoy teaching the First, Sixth and Seventh Year students most. The First Years are so full of wonder and the Sixth and Seventh Years are serious about the subject. When Hermione and I compare notes at dinner, she feels the same way.

"You should have seen their faces when the First Years walked in and saw a cat sitting on the desk," she says. "And then when she jumped off the desk and became human again..." She smiles at the memory. "Brilliant."

She did that to us during our First Year too. I guess it's tradition. Who knew Minerva McGonagall had a sense of humor.

We go to the library to relax before bed. I have a feeling this is going to be the last free night in a long time.

"Professor Lupin would have been hiding out in his office tonight," Hermione says quietly after a few moments silence. Her eyes are fixed on the full moon hanging outside the window. "And then tomorrow in class he would be pale, but strangely relieved."

I stay silent. Hermione's had a few nights like this over the years, raw pain over the losses from the war. She had so much respect for Lupin, almost equaling her respect for Professor McGonagall. Harry and I had talked about it once and agreed that if she hasn't had Malfoy and me to lean on during the last year at Hogwarts, she wouldn't have made it. Madam Pomfrey had told me the same thing: that if Hermione hadn't stopped having nightmares, the stress from that and her leftover war injuries would have killed her. I hadn't realized how dire the situation was.

"I think the worst part about my parents is that I never got to see their bodies. I never got that closure because it was too late for me to go to the funeral." Her voice is barely above a whisper, so I know she's trying not to cry. "I sometimes wonder if I made the right decision to modify their memories."

"If you hadn't, the Death Eaters would have tortured them either to insanity or death," I reply. "Sometimes I wonder if my parents would have been better off dying. I _hate_ going to St. Mungo's and seeing them like that."

She doesn't give me the usual line of how my parents are strong and heroic, which I appreciate. She just takes my hand and lets me talk.

"They have no idea who I am. They don't understand that I'm their son or what happened to them. My mum gives me a bloody gum wrapper as a gift every time she sees me because she has no idea what's going on around her!"

Her hand is cool as she cups my cheek, wiping away tears I didn't know I was crying. "That's one of the reasons we have each other. Because we're going to try our hardest to stay in each other's lives, no matter what."

I lean forward, burying my head in Hermione's chest and pulling her as close as I can. She strokes my hair, not saying a word. When I pull back, I hurriedly pull my handkerchief out and apologize.

She shakes her head. "It's good to get it out. I-I've been thinking too much about the war lately. I guess being back here triggered it."

"We lost so many good people." I think of Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, even Colin Creevey. "But good triumphed over evil."

"'But good triumphed over evil,'" Hermione repeats, an odd look on her face. "Sure, Voldemort was a symbol of evil and Harry was good, but I don't think everyone else was so black and white. Look how many people became Death Eaters that last year because they were scared and wanted protection. Look at Draco even. He was 'evil,' according to everyone who was on the other end of his bullying and when he became a Death Eater, but he changed sides. He turned things around."

She's right. "Getting really introspective tonight," I tease gently, trying to lighten both our moods.

She laughs, running her hand through her curls. "It's late. Plus the full moon affects the tides, which includes the water in our bodies."

I smile, taking in her sleepy eyes and slightly disheveled hair. Those eyes, which I had looked into a thousand times and seen so many emotions: happiness, sadness, exhaustion, annoyance, anger, excitement, anxiety, fear. Rarely fear, though. She was a true Gryffindor: courageous and strong of will. She had to be after all; she was Harry Potter's best friend.

Hermione reaches over and squeezes my hand. "I'm glad you're the one here with me."

"Not Ron?" It's out before I can stop it.

She makes a face. "He lost his chance when he shacked up with Lavender while we were dating the summer after the war." Then she smiles. "I thought the entire Weasley family was going to hex him into the next century."

"You're too good for him. You always have been."

She squeezes my hand again, making my stomach churn. "You're so sweet. But he's not the man I want to be with anyway."

Now my heart is pounding too. "Who is?"

That odd smile is back. "I'm not ready to reveal that information at this time."

_Is it me?_ I can't get the words out; it's like there's a block in my throat. So I give up. I know she'll tell me eventually. She always does.

* * *

I'm right about that being our last free night. We're so busy during September and October that I don't get a chance to breathe until Halloween. I still can't believe Ron cheated on Hermione. Had I known, I would have hexed him myself. She said that Fred, George, and Ginny had come up with creative ways to torture Ron and their mother hadn't stopped them. Hermione was already part of the family, but Mrs. Weasley wanted her to be an official part. Ron ruined that by marrying Lavender.

I look out the windows of the greenhouse while we wait for the next class. It's amazing how much you can see from here. The Gryffindor Quidditch team is practicing on the pitch. They actually look pretty good, which is surprising given how bad the tryouts looked. Some of the First Years in Flying class were better than they were.

I'm happy when classes are over and I can go to the Halloween feast. It's probably my favorite holiday of the year at Hogwarts because it's fun seeing the Muggleborn students dressed up in costume. The Great Hall looks great: giant pumpkins, flocks of bats flying around near the ceiling, and all kinds of pumpkin-flavored treats.

I'm devouring pumpkin-flavored cake when Hermione starts laughing. "It sounds mad, but I'm half expecting Quirrell to come running into the Hall screaming about a troll in the dungeon."

"That was how you, Ron, and Harry became friends, wasn't it?" I try to forget our first year. It was probably my worst one.

She nods. "The troll ended up in the girls' bathroom and they saved me. Then I lied to get them out of detention."

"That seems like so long ago."

"I think that's because _so _many things happened every year. We had the Sorcerer's Stone first year, the Chamber of Secrets the second year, Sirius Black the third year..."

"The Triwizard Tournament, the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Professor Dumbledore's death..." I supply.

"And, of course, the war."

"We were busy."

"We still are."

I have to agree with that. I'm happy when Qudditch season finally starts in November so I can focus on something besides teaching. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor are the best two teams this year, which doesn't surprise me since those are Hermione's and my Houses. For the first time, I'm glad she isn't overcompetitive about Qudditch, though she does enjoy it more than she used to.

Then, during the second week of December, Professor McGonagall asks Hermione and me to take all the names of the students who are staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. There are more than I expected, about 20. Hermione plans to stay on for the holiday so other professors can go home to their families, so I write Gran and tell her I'm staying as well. That's fine with her; apparently she's traveling right now.

Everyone leaves the week before Christmas and I head into Hogsmeade to see if I can find a gift for Hermione. I go to Fred and George's shop first to see if they can give me any ideas. Fred especially knows her really well. But this year, _they_ aren't even sure what to give her.

"Usually you can give her something practical and school-related like parchment or quills or ink, but she doesn't need that stuff this year," George says.

"And she's not a perfume or makeup or anything girly like that person either," Fred adds. He snaps his fingers. "Though we could give her some of our new shampoo and conditioner. The kind for untamable hair? She likes that."

"Perfect," George says, high-fiving him.

Well that's great for them, but that doesn't help me. I wander around Hogsmeade forever, racking my brain. Then I find a necklace with a red crystal flower on a gold chain, almost identical to the necklace Hermione had worn at Hogwarts. That had been one of the things she had called herself stupid for being upset about losing during the war. So I buy it. It's a little expensive, but completely worth it. I hope she likes it.

* * *

"Happy Christmas, Neville," Hermione says when I take the seat next to her at the Christmas feast. This is the only feast we ever have at lunch time and also the only one where the staff who are left join the students at their tables.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione," I say, smiling at her.

Professor McGonagall, one of the few other staff members there, wishes everyone a Happy Christmas and food appears in front of us. My mouth waters at the platters and tureens of roast turkey, potatoes, chipolatas, buttered peas, gravy, and cranberry sauce. I fill my plate quickly.

The students near us are absorbed in conversations about Quidditch, which I get pulled into. The girl next to Hermione, a First Year Muggleborn, talks with her about the Muggle world and how different it is being in the Wizarding world. Hermione takes a liking to her very quickly.

After a dessert of flaming Christmas pudding, Hermione and I go to the library, as usual, to exchange gifts. I open hers first: a box of Chocolate Frogs and a new copy of _Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants._

"I know you were upset about losing the book during the war, so I got you another one," she says slightly anxiously. "I hope you like it."

"It's perfect," I reply. "Thank you so much."

I'm sweating as she opens her gifts. She smiles at the box of her favorite chocolate from Honeyduke's before looking curiously at the small jewelry box. She gasps when she lifts the lid. "Neville! It's gorgeous!"

"We have a theme going," I manage. "Giving each other items we lost during the war."

"I can't believe you remembered!" She hugs me tightly, her body pressed against mine. "Thank you!"

My body reacts to her closeness and my face flushes instantly. I really need to learn to not blush. My fingers tremble as I hook the necklace around her neck and I hear her sharp intake of breath when my fingers brush her skin. She shivers slightly.

"You okay?" I ask, surprised.

"Just a bit chilly in here," she replies, smoothing the necklace with her hand. "This is my favorite gift."

"I'm glad you like it."

Our eyes meet and we both stop for a moment, not moving, like one of those cheesy romance stories Lavender and Parvati like to read. If this was a cheesy romance story, I would lean in and kiss her and tell her I love her. And she would kiss me back and tell me she loves me too and we would go to bed together.

But this isn't a cheesy romance story. We look away, tell each other Happy Christmas one more time, and go to our own beds.


	11. New Beginnings Part 2

Things kick into high gear when the students come back from holidays. There are only five months until finals and still a lot to learn. The Fifth and Seventh Year students are especially frantic because they have to take their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s this year.

"Are you and Hermione doing anything fun for Valentine's Day?" Professor Sprout asks me one day while we're tidying up after classes.

I almost drop the pot in my hand. "Not that I know of."

"I thought the two of you might have a date planned."

"No. She's not my girlfriend."

"Really?" Professor Sprout asks. "You two are always so close. My mistake."

I wish. I think about telling Hermione what she said when we meet in the library later, but we're both overwhelmed trying to make lists of topics and spells to review, topics and spells that still need to be covered, and when to do everything. We sit across from each other muttering to ourselves. Anyone who can hear us must think we're mad.

"Match to needle, bird to goblet, dinner plate to mushroom, human transfigurations..."

"Devil's Snare, Bowtruckles, Gillyweed, Fanged Geranium..."

"Switching Spell, Draconifors Spell, Vanishing Spell, Doubling Charm..."

"Fire-Making Spell, Severing Charm, Orchideous Jinx, Incendio Duo and Tria..."

We don't go out for Valentine's Day and our Easter holiday is more of the same. I understand why Hermione used to spend so much time in the library. It's really peaceful and cozy, especially in our corner.

"You know, I don't mind this so much," she finally says. "It's a lot of work, but it's rewarding watching the students learn."

I nod in agreement. "I feel better knowing they aren't enjoying their Easter holiday either. Finals are coming up quickly."

"That's so mean, but so true," she says, laughing. "I remember how panicked I was the last month before finals."

"You were always panicked about your grades. I never understood how you found time to help the rest of us."

She shrugs. "Sometimes the rest of you were more important. Especially you."

I smile. "Thanks." Then I look back down at my notes. "This is so much."

"Don't worry. It will be over before we know it."

She's right. The last month flies by and I sit in the classroom pitying the students taking finals. Some of them look like their heads are going to explode. The mood around the castle is so anxious and so tense that I find myself feeling the same way.

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when the End-of-Term feast rolls around. Hufflepuff had won the Qudditch Cup, but Gryffindor, keeping with tradition, wins the House Cup. The screams of joy are ear-piercing. We shake hands with Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout and they promise to write us when they want us back at Hogwarts. Apparently we're going to have more responsibility next year. I guess we impressed them.

Hermione and I say good-bye in Hogsmeade because she's going back to her flat with Fred. It's not really good-bye, though, because we're working in the Auror office over the summer. The rest of the Dark artifacts still haven't been recovered and Robards wants all the help he can get. So we had agreed.

* * *

It's weird walking back into the Auror office after so many months, but we're welcomed back enthusiastically. We fill Harry and Ron in on the happenings at Hogwarts while we wait for Robards to give us instructions.

"We think we have a location on the purple robes," he says. "Does anyone know the shop Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley? Or Ye Olde Curiosity Shop?"

"Yes," Harry, Ron, and Hermione say together.

"Good. Potter and Weasley go to Borgin and Burkes; Longbottom and Granger go to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. Carter and Deverill are interrogating Lucius Malfoy again to see if he can give us any information."

"He won't," Harry says.

"I'm trying anyway. Get going."

So we do. I hate Knockturn Alley; the whole feel of it is dark and evil. But we find the shop and an annoyed-looking clerk. "What do you want?"

Hermione talks to him while I look around. I finally find the robes, hidden in the back. "We need to confiscate these," I say. "Stolen property."

The clerk raises his wand and black smoke engulfs the shop. I feel fabric around my neck, squeezing hard, and grab for my wand. Hermione is yelling and casting spells I can't understand and my vision starts going blurry. I can't breathe.

Light pierces the darkness and I barely make out Hermione spinning in my direction. "Neville!"

My head is pounding, blood rushing to my ears. Everything goes black.

"Neville."

The voice is so far away. I feel like I'm underwater.

"Neville."

I feel something cool on my cheek, soft. I swim towards the surface.

"Come on, Neville!"

I open my eyes, looking up at a blurry face. "Mione?"

My vision starts clearing and everything comes into focus. Then I remember. "The robes!" I sit up quickly, only to get dizzy and nauseous.

Hermione grabs me and forces me to lie back down. "I got them. I also subdued the clerk before he escaped. He's being questioned by Harry and Ron now."

"What are we doing?"

"I'm taking you to St. Mungo's to get checked out. I did the best I could with you here, but Mr. Robards wants a professional opinion."

"But-"

"No buts," Robards says, walking over. "You're lucky you weren't killed."

So I end up in the hospital being poked and prodded. Hermione stays by me and Belby comes in to get my statement once the Healers are done. "What's the verdict?"

"I'm fine," I reply. "I can leave in a couple hours."

"Brilliant. Now tell me what happened."

So I detail every circumstance that occurred from the time we left the office until now. Belby whistles softly. "You're lucky you _both _weren't killed. Good job, Granger."

I'm able to redeem myself later when we make a thorough search of the rest of the shop: I find the silver biting box hidden in the basement. I cast a protective charm so I can take a sample of the contents for examination, then reclose and secure the box quickly.

"Good work, Longbottom," Robards says when I turn in my findings. "I knew having you and Granger would help this summer."

"Thank you," I reply.

"Go home and get some rest."

Gran is out with friends tonight so Hermione goes home with me to make sure I'm okay. I sit in the kitchen with her while she insists on making dinner. Nothing special: chicken, potatoes, and peas. It's good, though.

Gran looks pleased when she sees Hermione. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you. Yourself?"

"Fine. Fine. To what do we owe the honor of your presence?"

Hermione gives a quick overview of the day's events. Gran pats my shoulder. "Lucky for you, you've been through worse." She turns to Hermione. "I'll keep an eye on him tonight. Is that chicken?"

"Yes, ma'am. I figured Neville needed something to eat. We didn't have time for lunch in all the confusion."

Gran fixes herself a plate with what's left. "I'm simply starving. I had the most dismal dinner, let me tell you."

And she does. Hermione listens politely, but seems to actually enjoy Gran's storytelling. We all discuss a couple articles from _The Daily Prophet_, Gran brutal with her opinion as usual, until Hermione looks at the clock. "I didn't realize how late it was. I should be getting home."

"I hope to see you again soon," Gran says. "Good night."

She wishes us both good night. After she leaves, Gran turns to me. "That girl really cares about you."

"She would have done the same for any of her friends."

She shakes her head. "I can see it in her eyes."

My heart skips a beat, but I try not to let it show. "Whatever you say, Gran."

* * *

Unfortunately we aren't able to recover the rest of the artifacts before Hermione and I go back to Hogwarts. Lucius Malfoy hadn't been any help; he's already in Azkaban, so he has no reason to. I enjoyed being in the field again for a few months, but I'm ready to go back to teaching.

Professor McGonagall is beaming when Hermione and I meet her in her office. "I have wonderful news for you."

We wait expectantly.

"Pomona and I have decided that the two of you are ready to teach your own classes!"

Wow. We had both taught a few classes each last semester by ourselves, but for a whole _year_? Wow.

"We've decided that you both can teach First and Second Years. I know that means I won't be able to startle the First Years anymore, but it's worth it. Congratulations."

As a result, we spend the month leading up to the first day making lesson plans and getting them approved by Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. I've decided to switch up my teaching a little bit and teach the spells related to the term first before introducing the plants. Funnily enough, Hermione has the same idea and we hadn't discussed it previously. I guess great minds _do_ think alike.

We receive applause at the Start-of-Term feast again and I overhear some older students complaining about how lucky the First and Second Years are to have us for professors. Hopefully that's a good omen that our students will listen to us.

We help pass out schedules to everyone at breakfast the next morning and join the Heads of Houses for experience in career counseling the Fifth Years. Some students are Harry was: already know what they want to do and have the marks to do it. Some are like Hermione: not sure exactly what they want, but have the marks to do most jobs. Ones like Ron: not sure what they want, but don't have enough marks to do anything. And still others like me: trying to fulfill someone else's expectations without the marks to do so. It's more complicated than I thought it would be.

My first class is First Years. They look terrified, so I do my best to put them at ease by giving them a brief overview of the class. A bunch of them pull out parchment to write down the Fire-Making Spell and suddenly, one boy cries out in pain. I rush over to him. His hand is bleeding, the faint outline of "Fire-Making Spell" etched into it.

It hits me like a bludger: he has a blood quill. I grab some Essence of Murtlap and put his hand in it to soak. "Where did you get this quill?"

"Diagon Alley. The quill and parchment store."

I take the quill and put it on my desk, then send him up to Madam Pomfrey so she can double check his hand. I dismiss the class early so I can write a letter to Robards. We might have just found Lucius Malfoy's blood quill.

Once classes are over, I meet with Hermione and Professor McGonagall to fill them in on what happened. The boy is fine-it was a minor cut-but Professor McGonagall is upset. "You said there are three cursed books still missing as well?"

"Yes," I reply.

"I hope they don't find their way to Hogwarts."

Hermione is with me when I get a reply from Robards. He's sending Aurors to the quill store to check all of them, just in case. He wants us to deliver the blood quill to him tomorrow, if possible. We decide to go during lunch.

"I hope that is the blood quill from Lucius Malfoy's stash," Hermione says. "I don't want to think there are multiple of them floating around."

Robards greets us as soon as we walk in. "Good news. All of the other quills are normal."

I hand him the box with the blood quill. He opens it, testing it gingerly on a piece of parchment. A small dot of blood appears on his hand. "That's a blood quill all right. Thank you for bringing it in."

"I bet Lucius Malfoy put the quill in one of the displays like he did with the diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron," Hermione says angrily as we head back to Hogwarts. "That poor little boy!"

"I hope he didn't hide the books," I reply. "Mr. Robards said he was going to have someone check."

"I hate him. After the way he treated Draco, and the situation with Ginny, and now this..." She shakes her head. "I hate him."

I've never heard so much venom in her voice. I don't disagree; I feel terrible for my poor student. Hopefully he'll be okay tomorrow.

He _is_ okay the next day; he's resilient. We practice the Fire-Making Spell outside because I don't want anyone catching the plants on fire. Some people pick it up quickly; others don't. I have a Hermione in my class: a really intelligent Muggleborn girl. She tells me that she didn't want to be behind all of her Pureblood classmates, so she did as much reading and research as possible. Sounds familiar.

I miss Hermione as the term goes on. We're both so busy with our classes that even though we share an office, we don't have time to talk. I love teaching, though. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

We finally get into a routine after Halloween and actually allow a little time each night to talk and unwind. I've seen Hermione overworked and overstressed and I don't want either of us to end up like that.

"I love the look on a student's face when they are finally able to Transfigure something correctly," Hermione says, pulling her hair out of her tie and shaking it out.

I smile. I like that disheveled look. "Me too. I finally had someone master Incendio Duo today. She actually jumped up and down because she was so excited."

She laughs. "That's cute."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, watching raindrops slide down the windows. "What are you doing for Christmas?" I ask. "Did Professor McGonagall tell you you aren't allowed to stay this year?"

"Yes she did. She said there aren't that many people staying, so we aren't needed. I don't know what I'm doing yet. Probably having dinner with the Weasleys."

"Do you want to have Christmas Eve dinner together then? We could go to that new place near Fred and George's."

I can't believe I actually got that out without stuttering. Hermione smiles. "Yes. That would be nice."

Yes! I feel like jumping for joy, but I stay calm. "Thank you."

I have a date with Hermione!

The days drag as I wait impatiently for the term to end. We make plans for the spring term as well as for Christmas Eve. I had found a pair of red flower crystal earrings to match her necklace for a gift.

"See you Christmas Eve," I say when the term ends.

"I can't wait," she replies.

Me either.

* * *

I adjust my tie for the tenth time, fidgeting in front of the mirror. Gran walks upstairs and stops in my doorway, smiling. "You look nice."

"Thanks," I reply, sliding Hermione's gift in my jacket pocket. "I think I'm ready."

"Good luck."

I meet Hermione outside her flat and offer my arm to escort her to the restaurant. She smiles. "Such a gentleman."

We talk easily as we eat and Hermione looks so gorgeous in this glittery black dress. I'm speechless at first, but recover quickly. She's wearing the necklace I gave her and it sparkles in the candlelight. Everything looks really romantic.

We share a dessert and I pay the bill, turning down Hermione's offer to split it. She wants to walk around for a little while, so we do, enjoying the lights and the snow. "I've always loved a white Christmas," Hermione says.

"Everything looks so pure and clean," I agree.

We go back to Hermione's flat so I can get my gift, something she says she couldn't wrap. I can't stop staring at her as she unlocks the door and leads me upstairs. Snow is caught in her curls and it looks really cute.

There's a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, my favorite, sitting on the table in the kitchen, a ribbon wrapped around the pot. I used to have one, but Malfoy had destroyed it a long time ago. "Happy Christmas."

"Thank you," I reply, handing her the box. "This is yours."

A smile spreads across her face when she sees them. "They're gorgeous!" She puts them into her ears and admires them in the mirror. "I love them."

Fred walks out of his room and starts laughing. "Hey, guys," he says, pointing up.

We both look up and my face instantly turns red. Mistletoe. We both look back down, staring at each other.

Fred laughs some more. "I promise I won't look." He makes a big show of turning his back and covering his eyes.

I look at Hermione, who shrugs. "It's tradition."

I'm shaking as I lean in. I've never kissed anyone before; what if I'm terrible at it? But when our lips meet, I can't think anymore. All I can do is feel. Soft lips. Lilac scent. Hair tickling my cheek. Peppermint...was she expecting this?

I don't want to stop. When she pulls away, all I want to do is pull her back and kiss her again. There's electricity shooting through my veins and it feels so good.

Fred has disappeared by the time we break apart and I feel like I've been hit with a bludger. Hermione's smiling as she hugs me good night. "See you soon."

I'm tempted to kiss her again, but I hold back. "See you soon."

I feel like I'm flying. It's so amazing.

* * *

I'm still floating the next day when Gran asks me how things went. She knows already just by the look my face. "Did you ask her to be your girlfriend?"

"Not yet," I reply. "Soon."

"I've heard that before."

"I know."

I'm worried that things will be different with Hermione after our kiss, but she still treats me the same as before. We work together to plan review sessions and she's excited to give the students tips for studying smarter rather than harder. We make lists of what we still need to teach and what our students need the most help with still. We sit in our corner of the library at night talking and staring out into the night sky We never bring up the kiss, but I can feel that something is different. I find myself looking at her longer, imagining those soft lips on mine. I can't sleep without dreaming of her and wake up wishing she was in my arms. I catch her looking at me sometimes-I think anyway-but she always looks away before I say anything. We talk about romance, but not about romance with each other. She's surprised that I've never had a girlfriend because I had so many admirers after the war.

I shrug. "They only liked me because I was a hero, not because of who I am. Few women know the real me."

"Just like few men know me for me and not as Harry Potter's best friend or the girl who saved his life during the war," she replies.

"They should be jealous then," I say. "Because they don't get to see that you're as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. That you're loyal and care about others to the point of sacrificing yourself. Or that you have an intelligence that transcends book-learning into an understanding of people."

Her cheeks are pink. "You really think so?"

"Yes. I always have."

"It's a shame people didn't try to get to know you either. Sure, you're very handsome now, but you've always been so kind and sweet. Whenever I was upset, you always knew just the thing to say to make me feel better. And you worked_ so_ hard in your classes, even when Professor Snape kept telling you what a failure you were."

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without you and your support. I started fancying you the day you yelled at Mad-Eye Moody to stop when he was using the Unforgivable Curses on the spider in Defense Against the Dark Arts. You were so kind to me afterwards, making sure I was all right."

Hermione shakes her head, looking like she's a million miles away. "If I hadn't been so infatuated with a man who broke me at every turn, I would have realized-"

She's cut off by the tolling of a bell: the librarian's kind way of telling us to get out. I turn to Hermione once we're out in the hall. "You would have realized what?"

She hesitates, then shrugs. "I don't remember what I was going to say."

I don't believe her, but I accept it and we exchange good nights. I know what I have to do now, so I take a trip to Professor McGonagall's office at lunch the following day. I knock politely on the open door. "Do you have a moment?"

She raises her head with a concerned look on her face. "Of course. Is everything all right?"

"I just have a question."

"Go on."

I clear my throat, trying to figure out the best way to word it. "Would it be against policy for Hermione and me to date?"

Her face lights up. "You're finally dating?"

Finally? That wasn't the reaction I was expecting.

I must have made a face because she says, "Really, Longbottom. I've known the two of you for more than ten years. I watched you fall for her early in your years here and I watched her fall for you later."

Hermione falling for me? That's news to me. "So there's no problem then? As long as we stay professional when we need to?"

"No problem at all."

"Thank you so much." I stand up and head for the door.

"Longbottom."

I turn. "Yes, ma'am?"

She's smiling. "Good luck. I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you."

Classes drag once again as I wait for my alone time with Hermione. I feel the courage of Godric Gryffindor surging through me as I head to the library. But she's not here. I wait for a good twenty minutes, then check her room, our office. Nothing. Where is she?

It isn't until I pass an empty Transfiguration classroom that I hear murmuring from inside. She's Transfiguring objects one at a time-mouse to snuffbox, teapot to tortoise, hedgehog to pincushion, and back-and talking to herself. I step inside quietly and listen.

"I don't know why I got so nervous last night. It's just _Neville_, for Merlin's sake. Never mind that I've fancied him since our fifth year; he's my best friend. If I hadn't been such an idiot and tried to date Ron because that's what everyone _expected,_ I wouldn't have hurt so badly later."

She puts the objects away and waves her wand, conjuring that familiar flock of canaries. They circle faster as she gets angrier. "He broke me again and again and again and Neville was always there with a kind word or some stupid fact or just that adorable smile. He gave so much and expected so little. Not like Harry and Ron who took and took and never gave in return. Oh no, I forgot. They gave to Cho and Ginny and Lavender, the girls they _fancied,_ but never to me. I loved helping Neville. He was willing to learn, willing to try. We helped each other."

The canaries slow down and her voice breaks a little. "And I'm going to end up ruining things because I'm not there. I abandoned him tonight because I'm so afraid he's going to ask that question again and I don't know if I can answer properly. I can't even imagine how much I probably hurt him with talk of Viktor and Ron when he was there loving me and I was there breaking his heart. Even that Valentine's Day with Draco...as hurt and jealous as I was of him and Parvati, watching Draco kiss me had to be loads worse."

The canaries disappear and her voice breaks completely, her shoulders shaking. I can't take it anymore. I walk over and take her in my arms, holding her as tightly as I can. "Don't cry. I'm here. I found you."

She looks up at me, surprise evident on her tear-stained face. I abandon all my reservations and kiss her tears away. "You didn't ruin things," I say between kisses. "I love you so much."

I feel her breath hitch and her arms tighten around me. "I love you too," she whispers, sending shivers down my spine.

I pull back and kiss her lips, falling back into the intoxication of soft lips, ticklish hair, and lilac scent. I'm melting and falling and I don't care. I don't want this to stop.

"I'm never going to leave you," I say when we come up for air.

She pulls me forward into another kiss. "Me either."


End file.
